THE BEND IN THE ROAD
UPON THE STILL WATERS
Dearly Beloved, my God. I have seen the beauty of Your creation; majestic peaks and valleys; towering waterfalls; birds and flowers; in rainbows and aura sunsets. I look for You, and You show Your face to me. You open Your heart, and I am Yours. I am lifted upward into Your love, so compassionate, a creation so delicate, as the journey continues.
In June of 1987, for our 25th anniversary, my wife and I decided on a trip to the Canadian Rockies. We took a twelve day bus tour leaving Seattle, Washington and headed North into Canada through British Columbia, then onward to Alberta. The landscape was very scenic and picturesque. For it is here, that God must have painted this picture of majestic mountains, with snow radiating off their peaks. The window of my soul opened and the landscape began to melt my interior. I was yet to see, what God had brought me here for.
As our bus tour took us further in Alberta, we entered into Banff National Park and through the Valley Of The Waputik Range, which it’s elevation is 6,100 feet. We were on the Icefields Parkway when our driver pulled the bus over to the side of the road on a dirt shoulder. We all got out and he took us over a small dirt path, to a wooded platform at Bow Summit. What we saw was Peyto Lake, sandwiched in between the mountains. A panoramic view of speechless beauty. It looked liked, God shed His tears in His hands, and gently set them down to form this lake. I cannot describe to you this incredible beauty of creation. I was so overwhelmed, looking out side to side. I have never seen anything, anywhere, so beautiful. I felt God’s tears inside me.
PSALMS: 13
He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
ISAIAH 44:3
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessings upon thine offspring.
I was amazed at the turquoise color of the water, from the glacial rock flour, which is due to glacial erosion of fine ground slit-size particles of rock. The bright sunshine highlighted the vivid colors of the mountains, reflecting a mirror image upon the still water of the lake, which it’s length is 1.7 miles and ½ mile wide.
After a short stay of viewing the lake, we had to board the bus and leave, but my heart was still there, thinking and feeling the fragments of beauty, like a movie film, frame by frame, manifested images of inspirational reflections, soaking in like a sponge.
The next morning our bus was on route to Lake Louise in the mountain range of The Valley Of The Ten Peaks, located also in the Banff National Park. Our bus stopped at a parking area to view Moraine Lake. It’s elevation is 6,183 feet. The lakes surface is about 120 acres. We all had to hike up the Rockpile Trail, and when we reached the top, I looked down into this vast valley. And there; I saw my Beloved, tears sitting upon the still water.
PSALMS 23:2,3
He maketh me lie down in green pastures: He leadeth be beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Melting glacier tears of long ago, saturated the blue green color of this unforgettable sight. I just stood there, awestruck, and drank in this gift, and was in deep gratitude that I had eyes to see, and a heart to feel, such a presence. So captivated in these moments of grace, I couldn’t speak, and I let my Beloved embrace me, with this immaculate beauty. It was like a lovers first kiss, breathless, indescribable.
PSALMS 124: 4
Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul.
This beauty, was indeed a symphony without music. A conductor with overtures of grandeur. A valley, filled with an endless melody of a panoramic aura of stillness. So still. So quiet. Peaceful. Surreal. What my eyes had seen, seeped into my heart, rested into my soul. My Beloved, found a home, upon the interior, still waters of my compassionate reservoir.
PSALMS 29: 2, 4
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
The two days upon the still waters, of this picturesque beauty, was a glimpse, a twinkle of heaven.
Our bus tour ended, and we returned home, as my spiritual journey continues.
Robert J Varrick
rjvarrick@gmail.com