Getting away from the East Coast and being immersed in a Southwestern, desert landscape evokes a strange, exotic feeling in me. It’s a different beauty from my normal to be sure. It isn’t lush and green. The air isn’t humid, making the sky hazily muted. It is arid, making the pale, dusty ground the ideal backdrop for a wild, eye-popping array of cacti in other-worldly shapes and in various shades of green as they rise commandingly in stark contrast to the earth they’re in. The desert sky is pure, brilliant, startlingly clear blue. The oddness of all this to my east coast eyes invites me to slow down, to investigate my surroundings, to worship the One whose creativity and, dare I say, sense of humor, put this display together.
I suspect it was with the great excitement God planned the varied landscapes of the earth. All beautiful. All distinct. One could never mistake Arizona’s vegetation for that of Virginia’s. It’s to be expected that we have a preference of climate for where we live, but it would be a shame not to enjoy God’s desert handiwork while visiting (perhaps it’s obvious that I did).
It may be that we are so familiar with our everyday surroundings that we no longer appreciate hometown beauty. Yes, here in Virginia we are invaded with Pueraria montana, affectionately known as Kudzu. Yes, it’s green. Yes, it’s lush. But its growth overlays everything in its path, preventing the sun from reaching the plants underneath. This interloper notwithstanding, we have many extraordinary plants and flowers to enjoy and very soon there will be an East Coast explosion of pattern and color as Spring calls them up out of the ground. And they all merit our turning aside to ponder, even if, like me, you can rarely name what you are looking at.
I think God, like every artisan, enjoys our enjoyment of His work which includes us, His children. More, I think He receives as worship our heartfelt thanks whenever we talk with Him about His many gifts to us. When the Apostle Paul says to give thanks in every situation, I think he’s recognizing that God is in every situation, both the good and the less desirable. So, whether it’s cacti or camelias, God did it – for us. PD