So today I hiked in what is, hands down, my favorite place in all the earth: Archangel Valley. Archangel valley is a located about an hour and a half from the house I grew up in. It is a natural cathedral that absolutely screams to the glory of God, reflecting the beauty of the one who created it, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The valley is green, so green that it makes the grey rock appear blue. The water is clear, clear as crystal, except in the lakes, where it is a turquoise. The valley consists of four tiers, with the lower tier covered in head high alders, the middle two tiers covered in grass and tundra, and the final tier in just tundra. All four tiers have lakes, the third and fourth tier are connected by a waterfall. It is so stunning that it took me three hours to hike three miles, I was whipping out the camera so much (check out pictures here). The final half a mile of the hike was in the rain. The good kind of rain. The cold, heavy, massive rain drop rain so common in mountains. It was so crisp, so refreshing.
The entire day I just walked in awe. I had to keep reminding myself that what I was seeing wasn't a glimpse of heaven, but rather a reflection of the one who made it. The goal of the Christian life isn't my own planet built like Archangel Valley, no, it is the one who made Archangel Valley. Jesus Christ is the gift, He is the reward, He is all that is perfect and all that is beautiful. He is what we get. I had to remind myself over and over again that He is more beautiful than all that surrounded me, even though it was so beautiful that my heart ached looking at it. That Christ is more beautiful than something like Archangel, or whatever it is we find beautiful, is something that we need to be continually reminded of. To consider something that was created as more beautiful than the creator is the essence of idolatry.
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