God Is All Around, If You Are Looking
Psalm 121 starts: "I lift up my eyes to the hills: where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. He will not let your foot slip." How relevant when walking the rocky paths of the Catalonian hills, says long-time St George's church member Michael Witty, who for many years has organised excursions around Catalonia for intrepid ramblers. After a recent walk involving some 30 people to the Sierra de Bufadors, Michael was pleased to discover inspiration in this Sunday reading:
How clearly the sky reveals God's glory!
How plainly it shows what it has done!
Each day announces it to the following day;
each night repeats it to the next.
No speech or words are used,
no sound heard.
Yet their voice goes out to all the world
and is heard until the ends of the earth.
God made a home in the sky for the sun;
it comes out in the morning like a happy bride,
like an athlete eager to run a race.
It starts at one end of the sky and goes across to the other.
Nothing can hide from its heat.
- Psalm 19.1-6
"How true on our walk!" Michael joyfully shared with the congregation.
He recounted this tale: "It was very, very hot as we wound our way up and down and around ravines, until we reached the foot of the cliffs of the Sierra de Bufadors, where we flopped down on the grass and gasped like fish out of water. We rested for a while on a grassy patch under the welcome shade of a large oak tree, among the wild flowers."
"Bufa" in Catalan means "to blow", as whales and volcanoes do, as children blow out candles on a birthday cake, as the strong wind blows. The "Bufadors" on this mountain ridge are cavernous vents in the ground which blow cold air out from their depths, causing a unique microclimate of its own.
"We ascended once more, in spite of the heat, and found ourselves a few minutes later amidst the Bufadors, finally settling ourselves in what can only be described as one of God's natural cathedrals: its walls three times the height of the two side walls at St. George's; the roof, what better than the sky itself; and, providing shade, beech trees arching their branches above between the massive rock walls; the floor, a thick carpet of leaves, with moss-cushioned rocks scattered about for us to sit on."
"And from their depths the Bufadors gently blew their cool, cool air among us: God's, nature's, own unique timeless air-conditioning! A unique setting, a thankful rest for our picnic."
Michael added: "God moves in mysterious ways, and sometimes one feels no more so than on rare occasions when nature and we human beings least expect. Thank you, St George's, for letting me share together with you this moment of thanks and praise."
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