Day 132e: Another bridge to Beauty … (September 08, 2019)
I then eventually made it to Natural Bridge State Park, dedicated by the State of Virginia to honor & preserve the astoundingly beautiful 215-foot tall, 90-foot span of natural bridge that has been carved out of the surrounding limestone – slowly, over eons – by Cedar Creek. The land surrounding the bridge was once owned by Thomas Jefferson, was a popular tourist attraction in the 1800’s, and was even mentioned in Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick. And none of the same could ever come as any surprise to anyone who ever sees or saw this marvel in person. And fortunately, I was allowed to do just that, with hostess Blair being incredibly kind to me, and easily convincing her boss (James Jones) to let me walk down the half-mile to the base of the bridge for free …
“Like many, I find sanctuaries when looking up at the blatantly magnificent. And yet unlike many, I also find sanctuaries when looking down upon the seemingly unimportant & minuscule. In truth, there is so much beauty to be seen everywhere, with a humble leaf swimming in a puddle elicits as much awe from me as any soaring cathedral. Yes, the former was built to evoke reverence, and the other is ever quiet and humble. And yet to me, both are equally achingly beautiful. In them both I see equal reflections of the Divine. I feel lifted by them both, comforted by their scintillating brilliance. And I appreciate their presence in my life equally as well, with both of them reminding me that I am Home everywhere I go … And in truth the life of the spiritual journeyman is always a constant interplay between moments of astounded awe and times where we submit to the tinier beauties of things small or familiar. Both bring the pilgrim to surrender to their encapsulating moment, and both allow us to be captured by the goodness, the truth, and the beauty of things ever beyond and outside of ourselves. And this inspires us to universalize from that moment the ubiquitous goodness, truth, and beauty of the rest of reality as well, until our comprehension of that majesty eventually ricochets back to include ourselves alongside and within it. And this is the great inner dialogue I have come to call prayer.” ~ inspired by Amy Masterman & Richard Rohr
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