The Rough Places Plain

 

The Rough Places Plain

“The Rough Places Plain”

 Recent history shows that trains derail. Slap a thousand box cars,   coal cars, grain cars, container cars behind a couple of locomotives   and set them down a track and it’s destiny on a timetable, business   as usual, until…

   Not long ago we rented out a spare office at 300 Patricia to a   gentleman needing a place to work from. Before we did, we decided   to renovate, the biggest concern being the ancient carpets covering   a  sloping floor. This room is not big. The length is only 9 ft, but in   that  short space the floor drops 3 inches, like a ship caught on a   perpetual swell, never to right itself again. We spent the money to   correct the problem and that former feeling of nausea associated   with  that room seems to have been dealt with. It’s good to be on the   level!

   A friend from Arizona and I wanted to reach Castleguard Meadows   behind the Icefields. There was some uncertainty about whether this   could be reached by trekking alongside Saskatchewan Glacier or by   actually traversing the glacier, due to conflicting reports. We decided   not to bother. Five kilometers of crevasses can’t be taken lightly, as a   frightening ordeal without crampons on the Coleman glacier   on Mount Baker, WA once taught me. If you’re on ice and that ice   isn’t level, and that ice has deep fissures in it, you don’t want to be   there! Sliding towards an icy grave is no fun.

   The family was at the beach the other day –the local one,   at Lake Edith. Two boys were working on a project in the sand. They   had devised a channel so that when they poured their buckets of   water that same water would inevitably be led in one direction – the   way a train on its tracks ought to.

   It seems to me, as a way of tying together these metaphors, that   God is in the business of making crooked things straight and rough   places plain, of getting us to a place in our lives where we don’t need   to fear gravity or the journey that we’re on. As people, we often   resent having miles of our track pulled up, paying for costly   renovations or missing out on hikes that on paper seem fun. Yet   could it be that a Love of infinite measure is at work during these   upheavals, seeking to ensure that we arrive safely at a grander   destination?  

   Ever wonder why when someone speaks about God that it courses   away from us like water down a rut, so that the very freedom to hear   about sublime matters seems to no longer be an option? We get set   in our ways (or the ways that the culture deems appropriate), and we   often don’t persevere with the God things past the necessary   upheavals to the place of peace and joy and level ground, and like   rail companies we just try to keep things moving for the sake of a   bottom line that ultimately won’t stand the test of time.

   As I understand it, God is looking for you and me to be channels   not  only of His peace and love, but of Himself – a conduit of eternity!   But He won’t do that until we’re on the level with Him. If you’re used   to writing such matters off, but are beginning to wonder if you’ve   been  too hasty about God, why not spend the summer seeking Him   and His paths. You may be wonderfully surprised!