KristyWes

More Vancouver Notes


Vancouver gets a lot of rain, the results of which I enjoyed last week - lots of greenery, flowering trees everywhere, with daffodils and other spring blooms pushing up from the ground already. (Still waiting for those signs of spring here in NYC!) When speaking with a professor at the school I was visiting, he commented on the rainy climate, saying, "Yes it rains alot, but rain puts snow on those mountains."

And oh - those mountains. Rising up from the water's edge, stony black and topped with snow, the mountains are an ever-present part of Vancouver scenery. I grew up down the road from the Shenandoah Valley's Blue Ridge Mountains and these remain my first love, mountain-wise. But I have to admit, while the Blue Ridge are a sweet & lovely range, the mountains around Vancouver are awesome & inspiring in a way that can't compare.

From the moment I spied them, as my plane began its descent to the airport, I had a hard time looking away. They are completely captivating elements of creation. No wonder the Psalmist makes such frequent mention of mountains when praising God! The idea of creation came up further in conversation with that professor, as he extolled the beautiful scenery as a selling point for attending the college. Being located in the Pacific Rim gives students ample opportunity to reflect on the creation around them, and the pace of life there allows for such reflection.

The professor, borrowing language from another faculty member, said that he didn't like to talk about environment so much as creation. Environment implies an ego, a focus on "I" (my environment, of which I am the center). Whereas creation naturally implies a Creator, and moves the focus away from myself.

We take care of our environment because it is where we live and we want to reap benefits of healthy surroundings. Whereas we take care of creation because we respect the Creator who made it, and has charged us to be good stewards of it. Of course the end result is the same (taking care of the earth), but I like the semantic distinction between environment/creation because it helps me check my motives and reorient myself before God.

Lest the mood here grow too serious, however, let me mention that I also saw Blades of Glory while in Vancouver. It was pretty hillarious and I think you should go see it immediately. (JT - we must watch it on DVD the next time you're state-side!)