Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in his sermon, “O That I Knew Where I Might Find Him!“: “Long centuries ago the great Psalmist exclaimed, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” Here, surely is the place to start looking for God. And so the true seeker who has gone through the necessary preparation cannot open his eyes without seeing God. Probably many of us who have been so urbanized and modernized need at times to get back to the simple rural life and commune with nature. In such a setting the finding of God will not be difficult. We fail to find God because we are too conditioned to seeing man made skyscrapers, electric lights, aeroplanes, and subways. We need sometimes to get away from the man-made lights of the city and place our eyes on that eternal light which man can never invent. We need sometimes to close our ears to get away from the noisy tunes of the man-made streetcars and subways and open our ears to the melodious voices of the birds and the whistling sounds of the jostling wind.” [1]
How thankful I have been for God’s calling and this itinerant ministry that has placed me in various communities throughout our Annual Conference. Arriving from Fayetteville six months ago, I remember those first nights trying to fall asleep in our home in Camden, and saying to Jackie, “It’s so quiet here.” In the parsonage for Hay Street UMC in Fayetteville, white noise was the traffic which was always rolling on Morganton Road. There is no white noise in Camden. Just simple darkness and quiet.
As I once learned to experience God in the city, now I am learning how to re-experience God in the country. It’s breathtaking to lean back and peer into the night, absorbing a star-filled sky, and be awed by the midnight blue tapestry spreading out as far as I can see. It’s remarkable to see the bald eagles that keep showing up out my front window as I travel throughout the district, and especially in Washington County, causing me to sometimes pull over in a safe place to watch this majestic creature. It’s so peaceful to cross the numerous bridges linking land masses throughout our region, and taking my foot off the accelerator, as I take in the incredible views from all the windows around me of the waterways below.
Firmament means an expanse, and we certainly are given many places of expanse throughout our Beacon District. When I first drove through Hyde County to attend worship at Fairfield and Epworth churches, I was awed by the farmland as far as I could see, laid out on both sides of my car, wondering what crops were planned for next year. I love how John Wesley refers to the firmament: “the expansion, all the vast space extended from the earth to the highest heavens, with all its goodly furniture.”[2]
When we can pause and truly see the goodly furniture, our view is filled with the glories of God. I pray you, too, can slow down and speak the words of the psalmist during your next journey, and allow this truth to consume your heart and mind: “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.“
Blessings,
David
[1.] Taken from: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/o-i-knew-where-i-might-find-him
[2.] Taken from: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/wesley/notes.ii.xx.xx.ii.html
If you would like to view past editions of Driving with David, follow this link:
https://beacondistrictnc.org/category/from-the-ds/