Window Seat Wonders or God as Design Star

I have always loved nature. I find everything about it miraculous, mysterious, holy, and beautiful. Animals, rocks, leaves, snowflakes, flowers, mountains, the ocean --- all hold my eye and my mind captive! I could watch a tiny ant struggle to carry a crumb twice its size indefinitely, pick up little pebbles in a stream for hours, and watch clouds drift by until dark. I marvel at the craftsmanship of a bird's nest and the perfect hexagons of honeycombs. How do deciduous trees know that the time has come for their sap to retreat into their roots, and why is the death of their leaves so exquisitely beautiful? How can it be possible for every single snowflake to be different? My family will often get annoyed with me during walks or on a drive because I stop to look at the most insignificant objects (at least to them) and make frequent remarks about the scenery. "Oh, look at the cows on that hill." "Isn't this little pine cone so cute?" "Oh, wait, I want to take a picture of this pretty leaf." "Wouldn't Aunt Jackie have loved to see all those wildflowers?"

Last weekend my family and I attended our third family wedding of the summer --- this one in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Our return flight from Charlotte to Chicago departed right on time at 8:15 p.m., just as the sun was beginning to set. All three of us were together in row 22 on the left side of the plane, but I was the fortunate one to be sitting in the window seat. Because we were traveling northward, the view of the sunset stayed with us until we neared Chicago. Now I LOVE the window seat. Most folks request the aisle, but I enjoy looking out the window and watching the tapestry below unroll before me.

When it was safe to use approved portable electronic devices, our plane had risen above a thick white blanket of clouds; and the sunset in all its brilliant colors was in full view. There were also huge pillars of darker clouds --- most likely the "weather" that the pilot mentioned we would be going around. After my gasp of pure amazement, a few exclamations of "Oh, my goodness!" "Look, y'all!" and "Oh, cool!" I had the wherewithal to reach for my phone. This sight was too amazing, and I desperately wanted to record it so that I could see it again. I would take a few pictures, making sure to aim at an angle to avoid the glare off the window.
Just when I thought I would go ahead and put away the phone, the sky would morph into even more fantastic shapes and colors. Lightning flashed and danced within the huge bastion of clouds, while the sunset continued its show. The moon was even shining.

The display was like nothing I'd ever beheld. I found myself almost in tears at the wonder of it, and words of prayer and psalms flowed in and out of my consciousness. "Ha-shamayim m'saprim k'vod El, uma'aseh yadav magid ha-raki'a." The heavens declare God's glory, and the sky tells of God's works. " "Adonai, Adoneinu, ma adir shimcha b'chol ha-aretz, asher t'nah hod'cha al ha-shamayim." O God, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth, You who have covered the heavens with Your splendor!" "Modah ani l'fanecha..." I am thankful before You, O God."
I wanted to declare to my fellow passengers, "Is God awesome, or what??!!" No human being, though created with God's breath of life and possessing a tiny spark of the divine intellect, could ever create with such color, creativity and majesty. Certainly no random mix of cosmic dust, matter, atoms, or elements could, either. "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars that You set in place, what are we that You are mindful of us, what are mortals that You have taken note of us, for You have made us little less than divine, and adorned us with glory and majesty...O God, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!"