Midweek Devotion 30 July 2025

Reading

Psalm 43:3

Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. 

Devotion

Today's artwork comes to us from the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa Oklahoma.  "Mountain of the Holy Cross" was created by Thomas Moran (1837-1926). The Gilcrease Museum is closed for renovations at the moment.  The more spectacular painting Moran created of the same mountain may be found at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles.  Here it is for comparison:

From a biography of Moran "For nine months of the year, deep snow on the peak of the highest summit in Colorado’s Sawatch Range hides the natural phenomena that led to the edifice’s name: Mount of the Holy Cross. The enormous cross-like shape on the mountain’s northeast face is only visible in late summer, when the first snow fills the two enormous transverse gullies on the peak. The upright gully is fifteen hundred feet in height, and the arms extend outward three hundred and fifty feet on either side."

I'm fascinated by mountains, holy hills.  They are so BIG!  Massive rocks that touch the sky, shrouded in mists.  Holy scriptures from many religions and cultures attribute a revelatory aspect of the divine to mountains.  I like contrasting these two renderings by the same artist.  He sees the same thing, but differently.  Different details are highlighted.  Different aspects lose focus or come into focus.  It reminds me of challenges of seeking to see things from God's vantage point, Eternity.

Seek for God's vantage point this week, dear reader.  The view that has regard for Faith, Hope, and Caritas, which is Divine Love.  How different does the world look to you from that summit?

Prayer

Father God,

We praise you and give you glory!

We can feel your closeness and love for us

By your will, you enabled us to reach this

beautiful place

We lie in awe, witness of your wonderful creation

We hear the winds, praise you as they calm my soul

We see the magnificence of your works

Its depth and breadth astound us,

Thank you for this wonderful blessing

Thank you for keeping us safe,

for filling us with your Joy,

and for lending us this Life on earth.

AMEN. Prayer Upon Reaching the Summit | Mountain Prayer