There are few days in a normal month when I don’t find myself sighing heavily at the beauty that surrounds me in German Bavaria. The rolling hills and freshly plowed fields evoke a transcendent emotion that is hard to ignore. I live in a beautiful place.While it is still winter, mild days are the norm now. Snow doesn’t even linger any more. On clear days, wanderlust beckons from the roads and usually overcomes me.
The roads are windy and stretch for miles over gentle hills and disappear into patches of dark forests. Yes, they are inviting, and I indulge in the old-fashioned Sunday drive often over here. There are few Sabbath practices that better remind me of our Creator God than the rush of 100kmh on a two lane country road, with no car in sight, and the slight pressure on my body as the car glides around a tight turn.
Sometimes I wish I could just drive for hours. I want to drive and see the world around the next bend. Beyond the next grouping of tall pines. I want to slow down and pass through the small village with clay tiled roofs and cobblestone streets. I want to pull over, at some place I’ve never been, and stake my claim in a 50-acre tract of awe-inspiring earth.
The beauty is everywhere. From the roads or the trails in the forest, it’s impossible to wander and not walk in wonder.
And, this is where I spend my days. Where I labor and toil. Here, I am living, or trying to live, the life that fulfills the choir of passions that sings inside of me. I get angry sometimes because the song is often muted, but there are days, like today, when the choir is loud and the harmony sways with the crest and fall of each rolling hill.
These are the good days.
