“Far Places”

We celebrate far places,

The plains and canyons deep,

Amazing open spaces,

In memory we keep,

The horsemen and the cattle,

And the cowboy way of living,

The stories from the saddle,

Rough country, unforgiving.

A-horseback was the way to go,

When we chased cattle there,

It might have happened long ago,

But like yesterday I swear.

And some would call us foolish,

To say and sing these things,

Or simply being mulish,

When the western wind still brings,

The scent of sage and horse sweat,

Of juniper and pine,

The coffee boiling, you bet,

And sizzlin’ bacon fine.

We see it and we smell it,

And know it’s who we are,

And we’re always glad to tell it,

Though sometimes seems so far,

From all we have to do today,

It once was much less busy,

The pace was slower yesterday,

But now it makes us dizzy.

Take me to the mountain,

To the desert ranges high,

Take me to the fountain,

Of the rivers flowing by.

Take me where I cannot hear,

The sound of man’s machines,

So I can feel that God is near,

Least that’s the way it seems.

A wise old cowboy told me,

Son, it might take you some time,

He didn’t really scold me,

But warned of a hard climb,

Out of all the noisy thoughts,

To let the quiet in,

To slowly untie all the knots,

And calm the worldly din.

And he was wiser than I knew,

About those places far,

And what my time up there would do,

Rediscover who we are.

Celebrating those far places,

And the One who made them all,

You can see it in the faces,

Of the ones who on Him call.

“Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for He issued His command, and they came into being.” (Psalm 148:5, NLT)

The creation gives praise to the Lord. In some strange, mysterious, miraculous way, the created honors the Creator. That’s why when we lose ourselves in the beauty of nature, we often feel very close to God. Make no mistake about it. We don’t worship what God made. We worship Him. When we go to the sea or the mountain or the desert, we find Him there. Of course God is everywhere. But it is those far, distant places, away from the busy-ness of human endeavors, that we become more aware of Him. Some never take the time or make the effort. They smugly say: “He is not there.” But those who listen to the wind and are born of the wind know. We know, and we worship Him.

Lord, help us be still and know that You are God and You are there, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Tim Cox, timcox.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Tim, and God bless you.