Friday, March 14, 2014

Holy Beauty


Photo by David Gerstenberger

On Wednesday, David and I had the pleasure of going to one of our favorite places: a former U.S. Army fort, built at the end of the 19th century, which has been turned into a state park. How thankful I am that someone had the bright idea to gift this place back to the people when it was no longer considered needed for coastal defense!


Though we have been exploring Fort Worden for over 20 years, we are still discovering places within it which we haven't seen before. The panorama at the top of this post is the view from one of those places. It provides a lookout over the former parade grounds, all the way back to Point Wilson (where the Wooden Boat Festival is headquartered each year).
The view from the same spot (when we first discovered it, on a cloudy day). The park has woods, meadows, cliffs, beaches, campgrounds, a marine science center, a museum, and more. These wide-open vistas invite me to slow down, stop and drink in the beauty of nature.

 “The world is holy. We are holy. All life is holy. Daily prayers are delivered on the lips of breaking waves, the whisperings of grasses, the shimmering of leaves.” - Terry Tempest Williams

When I got up yesterday morning, this is the sight which greeted me. Such holy beauty deserves to be shared!
“Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest thing right and doing it all for love...Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God. Do all that you do with love.” - Thérese of Lisieux

3 comments:

Karen said...

You live in a spectacularly beautiful place. I was stunned by it all, and only had 30 hours there. It is sacred space and you bless us all with your pictures.

Busy Bee Suz said...

Yes, you are surrounded by beauty; holy beauty.
I love your sunrise….that would even make ME want to get out of bed! So glad you had time with David. Was he home for Spring Break?
XO

Gberger said...

Suz, he was - it's an early vacation, isn't it? Graduation is coming right up in May!