God's Soaring Cathedral

       Several years ago, I got the chance to be at Willapa National Wildlife Refuge and meet the oldest trees I've ever seen.  I learned so much.  There were western hemlocks, yews, and other trees.  The old growth forest there is part of what is left of the northwest pacific rainforest.  The oldest hemlocks are over one thousand years old.
       It was amazing to find myself standing among such large and ancient trees, some with trunks that would fill up my office or even larger.   They were so tall that my neck hurt from trying to look up to see the tops.  The forest floor was thick with grass, moss, fallen leaves, and other plants.  Because we were in a protected old growth forest, there were trees at all stages of life young and old.
       With all the growth (trees, vines, grasses, moss and other plants), the sunlight had a thick green quality to it.  The air was so vibrant; it seemed to almost taste alive.  The contrast was even stronger as I had come there from Kansas where trees are much smaller, the air much drier, and for much of the year, much less green.  These trees are literally giants.
       People will challenge me from time to time, saying that they find it easier to find God in the midst of nature rather than church.  Sometimes, it is said as a joke or as a half-hearted excuse by those who have been away golfing, or at the lake, or out in the field.  Other times, it is the beginning of a serious conversation about where and how we experience God.
       The day I spent amongst those trees was a day spent in an ancient cathedral.  I have to admit that it was easy to be amazed at the creation and the Creator in that place.
        I have been in ancient cathedrals and old churches in Europe.  We don't have buildings here of that age; we are too new.  But even including those, with their amazing stained glass windows and soaring buttresses, they can't compete.  There is no building to rival the beauty of that forest and the music of the wind and the birds of that place.
       The words of Psalm 96 could have been written for that place: "The Lord is King!... Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;... Then shall all the three of the forest sing for joy before the Lord; for he is coming." (Psalm 96:10-13)
       But the trees are not the only things created to praise God, we are also to live our lives so that we are a reflection of God and God's faithfulness.
       While it's true that our faith may be strengthened by an experience like I had in the forest, I firmly believe that we grow best when we are connected to other people of faith in community.  It is not meeting in a building called a church that strengthens our faith, but what happens there and that we are gathered into the body of Christ that makes a difference.
       Alone, I may be overwhelmed by the troubles and questions of my own life but gathered together, I am comforted and upheld by those who pray with me.  I am encouraged by the witness of those who speak God's word.  I am fed and nourished when the bread of Christ is broken and shared, and I am washed clean again in my baptism when I receive forgiveness.
       I did not walk in that forest alone.  I was there with a group of rural chaplains from all over the country.  We were there to learn together about the forest but we were also gathered to share in faith and prayer.  Some people may find it easier to feel God's presence in a quiet sanctuary with lighted candles and organ music.  We also need to treasure God's creation and celebrate our creator together in the cathedral of God's forests.  But what we need the most is to remember to pray as God's gathered people, remembering that it is together in the body of Christ that we are empowered and given life.  Read Jeremiah 17:7-8