Sunset on a Wisconsin Beach
Lake Michigan beauty and the peace God gives in nature
We have travelled far this summer, and one of the spots we enjoyed was in Racine, Wisconsin, on the west coast of Lake Michigan, between Chicago and Milwaukee. Our rental house was within walking distance of Zoo Beach, south of Wind Point and the lighthouse there. Ahead of that leg of our adventures I had hardly thought of the beach, except to know it was coming and to bring along the borrowed beach wagon, kids’ swimming suits, and plenty of towels.
Then we arrived on a Saturday evening, and four of the kids and I walked over to the edge of the bluff where the path led down to the sand. It was sunset, and we were enthralled. The water stretched peacefully to the horizon. Wildflowers bloomed and tousled in the gentle breeze along the path, and we felt like Wordsworth’s lakeside daffodils: “The waves beside [us] danced; but [we] Out-did the sparkling waves in glee”.
There’s something about a wide, wide expanse of water in summer. Seeing an ocean or a Great Lake like Michigan gives me a wordless hope and thankful joy. The warmth of the air, the blush of the clouds, the quiet, constant splash-murmur of the waves—these things bless our summertime.
God certainly formed different features of our world for multiple purposes. He knew we would need sustenance and shade from vegetation, moisture and water from streams and rivers and lakes. We would as well need beauty, and in His great wisdom, He gave us natural beauty which would serve us both bodily and spiritually. We hear this in Psalm 104, verses 1-4:
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, You are very great:
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,
Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,
Who makes the clouds His chariot,
Who walks on the wings of the wind,
Who makes His angels spirits,
His ministers a flame of fire…
Over the course of several days, we saw multiple sunsets by the lake. It is not hard to appreciate God the Creator in the wonder of waters, of clouds, and of wind when you’re gazing at such beauty. In land-bound Wyoming, such sights are rare, which made them all the more special to us.
And along with awe and wonder, such beauty bestows a measure of comfort and peace. We certainly do nothing to form or sustain sights like those above, though we know all too well how much we could do to mar or damage them (air and water pollution come to mind). Yet there they are. Bessie Rayner Parkes, an early nineteenth century writer, wrote a poem called “Peace” that speaks to how natural beauty can turn us to peace rooted in God.
The steadfast coursing of the stars,
The waves that ripple to the shore,
The vigorous trees which year by year
Spread upwards more and more…
All natural things both live and move
In natural peace that is their own;
Only in our disordered life
Almost is she unknown.
While we live in a fallen world, and while we become blind amidst our chaos and disorder, the order God set at creation continues in our temporal time. The cycle of the seasons, the flowering and seeding of plants, the growth of new—so His hand formed them, and they turn and turn, speaking softly to His creative direction. And this is peaceful; a quiet security in this natural testimony of His ways.
She is not rest, nor sleep, nor death;
Order and motion ever stand
To carry out her firm behests
As guards at her right hand.
Contrary to how we usually think of peace as an undisturbed stillness, peace is active. She is “order and motion” within her given parameters, given by the One who made all things and peace itself. And seeing this natural peace, this order and motion, like waves on a beach, can prompt us in our Holy Spirit-given faith to pray for this peace in us.
And something of her living force
Fashions the lips when Christians say
To Him Whose strength sustains the world,
“Give us Thy Peace, we pray!”
Lord, when we see the beauty You have given us in Your created world, may we seek your unending, constant Peace found only in Christ. Amen.