I'm not someone who's usually moved by nature. I think it's cool and awesome, but in general, nature just doesn't do much for me. Even though I usually see God's glory more clearly through other means, visiting the famous Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan was a really cool experience.
Before getting to Sun Moon Lake, we were stuck in the car for a long, long time driving up and down the mountains by Puli. [Aside: whereas before Taiwan, an hour in the car was a painfully long amount of time to be sitting in one spot, we've grown accustomed to long car rides, and 45 minutes in the car now is like a short trip to Meijer (or Shoprite, for my NJ peeps).] On the car, I've been listening to Iris' iPod Touch (because 1. my phone doesn't work and 2. Iris doesn't like sleeping to music...yay), and one the song I woke up to was Amazed sung by Desperation Band (not my favorite version, but whatever). It's an old worship song, with a super-simple, catchy chorus that was stuck in my head for most of that day and the next, when we were at Sun Moon Lake.
The Lake was cool, and the stuff we did was fun, but I wasn't falling down in tears because of how beautiful it was. But when I started getting bored, I heard the chorus of the song in my head.
Lord I'm amazed by You
Lord I'm amazed by You
Lord I'm amazed by You
How You love me
Lord I'm amazed by You
Lord I'm amazed by You
How You love me
It was like God was saying to me: Caleb, screw you and your own little preferences. I made all of creation and it all screams my glory, so you can not be amazed and be cocky and think "I've seen cooler things than this" or "I could be doing funner things right now" OR you could try to understand how awesome I am and how awesome my creation is. Your choice.
I've never really tried to be awe-struck by nature before. I thought it to be contrived and fake. But I think it's our calling to try and discover all the glory of all of creation and to really try to give God all the glory for it. Otherwise, we're just playing with God's stuff without giving him the credit for it.
Kind of a stretch, but this all reminds me of my life verse:
1 Corinthians 10:31 - So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do [include visiting a supposed landmark lake in Taiwan], do it all for the glory of God.
Iris' Taiwan Documentary...continued
Unlike the previous Nature Adventures at TaiCheng Park, most of the stuff Iris says is actually true, tidbits learned from tour guides and our family friends.
Iris' Taiwan Documentary - Taking a Boat Ride on Sun Moon Lake
Iris' Taiwan Documentary - On a Cable Car over Sun Moon Lake
[We haven't even gotten to the top, in this video. I stopped filming cuz my mom was freaking out about it]
Iris' Taiwan Documentary - An Awesome Japanese-designed Building by Sun Moon Lake
[This video really doesn't do the building justice. The acoustics were awesome.]
i feel like i deserve some compensation for all the hits your site gets for my amazing documentaries!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMYReIv1ax4
ReplyDeleteI've had this version and I think it's a better one...you can update your ipod haha.
Ah, so that's why you've never been too enthusiastic about the Narnia trips (actually after a couple times it's nothing special I don't think). But yeah I think God has created so much beauty in this world that deserves our appreciation (says the nature admirer, but I think it's a true statement). Glad you saw this cool lake that opened up your eyes!
@Cory -
ReplyDeleteYeah, Narnia doesn't do much for me, and I feel I can get more out of my Sabbath by sleeping and chilling out, especially because I'm usually really tired by then.
I still wasn't really moved by the lake, but I learned that I just need to make the choice to give God the glory, even if my nature is otherwise. Still, if I was given the choice of going to the lake or some other nature thing and doing something else, I would probably do something else...but in this case I was in a circumstance I couldn't change, but I could change my attitude towards it. [Green line/red line!!]