The Landscape Changes
One of the most mesmerizing experiences of my renewal leave was to watch transfixed the transformation of the view behind our cabin in a matter of days.
Three years ago hurricane-force winds, along with years of tree-loss due to disease and bark beetles, resulted in dense treefall in much of the forests around our area which created plenty of fuel for eventual forest fires. The U.S Forestry Service and local fire-fighting agencies partnered to thin out the San Isabel National Forest with financial incentives for property owners to do the same. The owners of the 40 acres behind us which abuts the national forest hired an outfit that came in with hydraulic rotors attached to excavators and tank-like vehicles (see above). This operation took down a 50-foot pine and ground it into chips within five minutes – a task that took half a day for me and my chainsaw. It was fascinating to watch.
Within three days, the dense undergrowth spanning 100 yards behind our cabin perch was cleared. And for the first time you could see the stand of tall white-trunked aspen in the distance next to Dodgeton Creek, leaves flickering in the breeze. On the floor were the ground remains of downed trees. A year from now a growing array of wildflowers and grasses coaxed forward by the sunlight that will now be able to reach the forest floor. It is resurrection in a most beautiful form.
One thing I learned during my prayer and renewal time is that resurrection was not a one-time, time-bound event that we celebrate at Easter, but rather an every-moment reality for the eyes that look and see. One of the reasons I am excited to be back is to see how the landscape is changing around us – literally and figuratively. God is at work in the resurrection that is happening before our eyes on a scale that is far beyond our individual abilities and the tools we each have. But like the Forest Service in partnership with other public and private interests, when we pull together as a church, the landscape changes. Transformation happens, resurrection is before us, and Christ is alive in ways we could not have imagined or seen otherwise.
It is good to be back; it will be even better to see what God will be up to in our landscape this fall. See you in church this Sunday!
