May 15, 2020
The Joy of the Outdoors
“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3: 11
Every day as I am preparing devotions for the current day I see a lot of activity outside our office window: runners running by, cyclists pumping their pedals uphill, neighbors walking their dogs, children racing their three-wheel bikes downhill, couples on a leisurely walk, individuals with headphones enjoying the solitude of the moment, landscape and construction trucks going back and forth, and entire families strolling through the neighborhood. There is no question that the number of people outside my window has at least tripled or maybe even quadrupled since the pandemic hit America in mid-March.
Although the crisis has brought much suffering to many people nationwide and worldwide, there is the silver lining of people reconnecting with nature and with one another, evidenced simply by the number of people outdoors and the number of people enjoying it together. It is a refreshing and invigorating thing to watch.
We can only hope and pray that the good that comes from the bad in this crisis will have a transformational effect on how we view and appreciate one another and the beauty of God’s creation.
Prayer: God of all creation, we are grateful for the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and the beauty that surrounds us every day. Amen.