The Great Outdoors

As we drove out to Western Kansas last weekend, I remarked as we left Lyons that the terrain and the “look” of the land would gradually become different as we went west. Around Rice County, the terrain and look of the land is much as it is in the Wichita area, but as one travels toward Great Bend and beyond, it gradually changes from cultivated to grassland, trees to treeless, man-made to natural. By man-made to natural, I mean that there gradually is a lessening of buildings, power lines, vehicles, etc. as one travels westward.

Sure enough, the transformation was gradual, but very plain. Ellenwood, Great Bend, LaCrosse, Hays, and on out on I-70, the terrain became more open and big, grass was in abundance, and the great outdoors was never more evident than in Western Kansas.

There’s something about that kind of environment that makes me feel rather small and insignificant. There’s something about looking at the sky at night and seeing nothing but black punctuated by thousands of points of light that makes me wonder at it all. There’s something about the way the scene just opens up and envelopes me that makes me feel like I’m an integral part of it.

Next time you go west, don’t just count the minutes until you get to Denver. Take a little time and see what’s out there. Look at that part of the creation with renewed eyes and an humble heart. Spend some time and energy seeing the small as well as the enormous. Then visit with some of the locals and get a human viewpoint on where you are. I think you’ll like what you see and will have a fresh appreciation of the God who made it all.