Vail...Day 5
Well, I just got back from a raft trip with a number of my colleagues and their families. The last time I had gone rafting was two years ago, when I went twice during the summer: once in Vail and once while I was in Sun Valley, Idaho, down the South Fork of the Payette River.
This trip was rather less intense than the previous two, in part because there were some younger children participating, but it was thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless. It gave me an opportunity to both spend some recreational time with colleagues (which can be difficult during the season, when we are all trying to maximize the amount of time we spend with our families), and to reflect on the beauty of nature up here.
There's nothing like floating down a river in relative quiet, away from the city, to reflect on what a wonderful Creation nature is. It also causes me to reflect on the responsibility that we all have to be good stewards of the environment in which we live. It amazes me that we can be such a small part of this tremendously huge world, and yet collectively our actions can--and do-- significantly affect the world around us.
It can be easy to forget this, especially if you live (as I do) in the center of a heavily urban area. And in all honestly, I welcome these opportunities to reflect on how wonderful a Creation this is, and how, because of joy and love for it, we not only should, but CAN, do everything we can to ensure that our existence is harmonious with our environment. It's just a question of how we look at nature: as our Dominion, or as stewards of a natural Kingdom.
This trip was rather less intense than the previous two, in part because there were some younger children participating, but it was thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless. It gave me an opportunity to both spend some recreational time with colleagues (which can be difficult during the season, when we are all trying to maximize the amount of time we spend with our families), and to reflect on the beauty of nature up here.
There's nothing like floating down a river in relative quiet, away from the city, to reflect on what a wonderful Creation nature is. It also causes me to reflect on the responsibility that we all have to be good stewards of the environment in which we live. It amazes me that we can be such a small part of this tremendously huge world, and yet collectively our actions can--and do-- significantly affect the world around us.
It can be easy to forget this, especially if you live (as I do) in the center of a heavily urban area. And in all honestly, I welcome these opportunities to reflect on how wonderful a Creation this is, and how, because of joy and love for it, we not only should, but CAN, do everything we can to ensure that our existence is harmonious with our environment. It's just a question of how we look at nature: as our Dominion, or as stewards of a natural Kingdom.
posted by Jim Markey at 3:08 PM
