It is late as I write this evening, and I am very tired. I am afraid I may not be terribly coherent. But I don’t want to fall behind and lose the experience of the day.
We began the day with Mass at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno. This beautiful church was sadly vandalized on Tuesday. But services went on as usual. Apparently some statuary and stained glass were damaged. But I could see no sign of the destruction.
Today was Divine Mercy Sunday, and Fr. David Lopez focused his homily on forgiveness. When we forgive, he said, we participate in the mercy of God coming to earth. We have the privilege of taking part in God’s extension of mercy to a broken world. I began to think about how difficult forgiveness is. Then it occurred to me that perhaps it is supposed to be hard. If it weren’t, would we be able to understand the depth of the forgiveness God extends to us and what it cost Him to bring restoration to our lives? If forgiveness were easy for us, would our only understanding be of cheap grace?
I am also deeply touched, as I travel from city to city and worship in different places, at the diversity of God’s people. I have been taught by priests from India, Thailand, Mexico, Africa, and the United States. I have worshiped in English, Spanish, and Thai. I have stood alongside believers of every age and color and been warmly received by all. What a joy to be part of this body!
After Mass, we had only one thing on our agenda. Yosemite National Park! I was a bit apprehensive after dealing with Sequoia National Park yesterday. But today was much easier for me, even though we ended up getting lost for a bit on a road we really weren’t supposed to be on. (Oops!)
Yosemite is spectacular, beginning to end. The park is especially known for its waterfalls and rock outcroppings. But everywhere one looks there is something amazing. The trees. The rivers. The hills coated with blankets of wildflowers. The meadows. Even the areas where there have been forest fires. We found our senses on overload. We wanted to stop and photograph everything, but that is, of course, impossible.
When I spent time looking at things through the camera, I realized I often missed the big picture. Undesirable elements can be easily cropped out of a photograph. A picture taken in a crowded parking lot can give the impression that there is no one around for miles. Isn’t that a lot like life? We’d like to hide what we don’t want to see or think about, but that doesn’t really give us the full picture. And then we don’t experience the fullness of life. I’m learning that this isn’t usually desirable in the long run.
Another lesson learned today is that when I always focus on the grand and majestic, I miss the delicately beautiful right under my nose. We need, of course, to appreciate and marvel at the gushing waterfalls with drops of hundreds of feet. But the God who created these is the same God who crafted tiny lichens and wildflowers and lizards and hummingbirds and the patterns of wood grain and pine cones and striations in rocks. All of these are equally marvelous, just on a different scale.
Do we do this in our daily lives? Are we drawn to the grand and showy at the expense of pondering the delicate and intricate? Do we value the visible, powerful people over the humble and unobtrusive? Is this the way of Christ? I think not. I hope I am learning.
“O Lord, how many are Your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
The earth is full of Your possessions.”
—Psalm 104:24
Lead me on Your path, O Lord!
