The Grand Irony
Grand Teton National Park from the Snake River
I’m completely aware of the irony, sitting on a bench looking out upon the majestic Teton mountains in Wyoming, borrowing electromagnetic waves from the Colter Bay Lodge to send this article into the internet and back to you.
I am no Luddite, and I think the outdoors are enhanced with wi-fi access, but I understand why the guy who just passed me carrying a bear cannister (extra-large) is heading into the wild to get away from it all. God’s green earth, breathed into existence in the early days of creation, mostly unspoiled here in Grand Teton National Park, is a sight to behold. The peaks point confidently toward their creator in an unbridled display of worship. Meanwhile, I struggle to find words to express the awe I feel as I stare over Jackson Lake wondering how many bears are hiding from me and my fellow tourists.
The tourists are a problem here. All but a few are disobeying the mask rules (guilty!), and I’ve seen a few signs of wild children droppings, such as fruit snack wrappers, here and there. The park rangers are doing their best to proselytize us with their N-95s and junior ranger oaths. Their signs begging us to not corrupt their holy land are nearly as plentiful as the aspens.
Are we really a problem here? Did God not crown his creation at the end of day six with noisy, obnoxious, littering human beings? There are plenty of signs telling me to “be bear aware,” and I have a $50 can of bear spray as a result. If we are “very good”, why aren’t the bears lining up to celebrate us instead of to maul us?
Is the damage we’ve done to the world so bad that we’re now sentenced to lists of rules, punishment and guilt for making footprints in the mud?
Our sin is no small thing, and the earth groans from our compounded crimes. We went from munching forbidden fruit to murdering siblings awfully quick, and I don’t need to describe to you the atrocities that have taken place ever since. We are all well aware. Schools, politicians and park rangers remind us freely how destructive our sins are to the earth and its creatures.
But the solution is not new rules, dirty looks, masks, and oaths. The solution is Christ. Just like the world, Christian churches preach about sin and its consequences, but the difference is the churches know how to finish the sermon. We have a Savior who took the punishment for every sin from the forbidden fruit to the fallen fruit snack wrapper.
Like the Tetons, we can lift our faces to the holy one with confidence and praise, knowing we are forgiven of all that we ever have done, are doing, and will do to corrupt his beautiful creation. I don’t need to hike deep into the bear-infested wilderness to find salvation; my Savior exited the wilderness to save me. Even if the bears are unaware, I understand the grand irony of the world’s creator allowing the ones who ruined it to kill his only son, even on a tree snatched from an unspoiled forest.
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. – Psalm 121:1-2 (ESV)
