Movies and Museums---Who needs 'em!?!

Fiery pinkish orange popping out against a backdrop of grayish blue with splashes of aqua randomly poking through.

Rembrandt?  Van Gogh?  Picasso?  No.

Flashes and flickers lighting up the blackness.  Over there---to the right---there's one.  Oh, and another to the left.  No, not on a movie screen nor on a red carpet.

Driving along the highway, I was mesmerized by the display.  Beautiful, intriguing, indescribable.  Words cannot compare to the colors and majesty of it all.  I even experienced some 3-D effects of strong wind and heavy rain at one point.  No special glasses required.

How could I for a minute begin to think that such beauty and complexity just happens?  Yes, I know of the science behind it all.  I don't dismiss that.  But to think that the intricacies of that very science just happen---I don't think so.  How could they?  They did not and do not cause themselves.  They are too spectacular and precise.  Too mind-blowing to just happen.

No, the only One who has no cause is the One who created cause itself.

His unique, delicate, yet intricate fingerprint is in everything.

The breathtaking views that overwhelm the mind were borne of His mind and painted with His hand.

The mind-boggling scientific details of how the human body works, let alone a single leaf on a tree---those too are evidence of Intelligence beyond anything we can fathom.  Intelligence that pre-dates any design we can imagine.  Each thing intentional and specific.  A place for everything and everything in its place.

I cannot help but marvel when I observe Him watering His garden and field just a bit to the left of the highway on which I am traveling.  Very precisely pouring out His rain in just His intended place at that time.

• "He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them." (Job 37:11).

• "Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash?" (Job 37:15).

• "What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?" (Job 38:24)

• "He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth" (Job 37:3)

And, of course, to top it all off, He has a sense of humor, too.  He created us, after all!

Yes, near the last stretch of my drive, some of my fellow earthlings were observed towing an antique car behind a truck.  No big deal, except:

• It was almost pitch black outside.
• No lights on the vehicle appeared to be working whatsoever---specifically tail lights.
• It was being towed with a chain of some kind (too dark to see it).
• The car was a convertible car with the top down.
• A guy was in the driver's seat of the car as the two vehicles were together only going maybe 55 miles per hour on I-10 in a 70 mile per hour zone---remember the pitch dark and no taillights!?!  

Once I got over the shock of almost rear-ending them, I just had to laugh at us humans.  Yes, thankfully He made some of us a bit smarter than others.  However, I'm sure we all have those "towing with the top-down in the pitch-black with no taillights" kind of moments.  Don't judge lest you be judged!

And to top off this movie and museum-free mind trip, as I came over the last hill on the bridge headed for my exit, what do I see ahead of me in the direction of the City of New Orleans on this non-descript August Sunday night near 10:00pm?  A grand fireworks display.  Really---a real fireworks display, visible for several miles.  This weary traveler has no clue what they are celebrating so elaborately on this random August eve---and come to think about it, they probably don't either.  That's just how they roll here.  Cherish and celebrate the life you have.  They know this first hand and live it every day.  It is who they are.  It is evident in their demeanor, in their talk, and of course in their cooking.  They know each day is a gift and they make it count.

How about you?  Do you know your life is a gift?  Each day of it?  Do you make it count?

Better yet, do you live your life in a way that you will ultimately Outlive Your Life?  You should.  I should.  We all should.  Our world is in need of a Hope Revolution.  Will you join me in being part of that starting today?  You can get a good idea of how and why to do it in the book I am reading right now by Max Lucado called Outlive Your Life.  It's not even out on shelves yet, but will be very soon.  I highly suggest you get a copy as soon as you can.  You'll see why.

And the next time the sky is full of color and flashes of light, be sure to tune out all distractions and enjoy the show.  Your Creator is playing it just for you---LIVE and in color---to show you that He truly is with you.