I could talk myself out of this business! Despite believing in the power of the visual connection, I understand that stoles are not essential to worshipping our Lord.I have been thinking about this as I’m just home from a hiking trip in Colorado.

On the first hike of the week, about a quarter of the way through, I felt overwhelmed with a leaving behind of the worldliness in my life. A quiet reverence came over me as I admired the beauty of the mountain side and realized that I had been created more capable of the challenging hike than I realized.

This quote helps me understand what I was experiencing —

To Worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart ot the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.

-William Temple

Maybe I was experiencing what Richard Foster refers to as ‘the stilling of creaturely activity.‘ As I return to my daily routine I hope I can not confine this to my inner life but instead let it overflow into by daily activity and communal worship times. So, until I gather with community again I sing silent praises. For the beauty of the earth! Amen.