Mixed Emotions this morning:  The weather is nice, really nice.  After a long hot summer in which many Texas cities (luckily not Fort Davis) set records for how long they held out under 100 degree temperatures, it’s 57 out there at 7:52 AM as I settle into my office and seek to process all the beauty and all the ugly that is churning in my head.  It’s not raining.  It’s not really even sprinkling but there is moisture in the air. It’s just enough to feel the occasional cool drop of life giving water on already cool skin.  It’s almost cold... almost.

The ballet has begun. Outside my office window are the towering cliffs of Sleeping Lion Mountain.  Fifty feet of vertical igneous rock is inspiring to watch as the eastern sun embarks upon it’s journey across the sky.  The daily dance of light and shadow requires no music save the dove’s song.  Every time; every moment I watch the ballet, I see a brand new mountain.  It’s all right here.  I’ve dropped the twins off for another day of first grade.  Our youngest is safely ensconced at the baby sitter’s.  Life is grand this Tuesday, the day after Labor Day.

I’m sleepy, though.  Actually, I am one of those rare ducks whose body requires little sleep but I am emotionally sunk to start the day.  Last night, the world came apart for one woman I have in my mind and on my heart as I wrap myself in morning prayers.  Strangely I don’t even know her name as I seek to call God’s attention to her.  Things just happened too fast.  I suppose I could go and look her name up on the report but I know God knows it and that’s all that matters today.

We were called to her side after a horrible accident in which she, her mother, and her two sons were injured.  It was hectic.  There were ambulances running all over west Texas and none of them were where they belonged.  One, I understand, was transporting a rape victim (God help that woman too) to the hospital 90 miles from their base .  At the same time another man was running from the police when his car lost a battle with a train.  It took us about 45 minutes to get where we were needed because we were needed in places others could not be.

One of the sons (age 11) died on scene.  Another one (13) will surprise us all if he made it through the night.  The grandmother was injured but will survive.  The mother’s heart is breaking.  Her body will be sore in the weeks to come but her soul may never heal from the injuries she received in the midst of a tragic accident.  None of these folks spoke English and we did our best to communicate with them all in their Spanish tongue.  None of that really matters, though.  In all the combined languages of the world, there are not sufficient words to touch the hurt of a grieving parent.  Only time will help... and that... not much.

I should drive up Skyline Drive this morning.  It’s on the top side of Davis Mountains State Park on the other side of Sleeping Lion.  From my office window the cliffs seem larger than anything imaginable.  From this place, it seems as if I could stare forever and never truly see them all.  From Skyline Drive, though, one realizes that Sleeping Lion is one of the smallest formations in these hills.  From there, one almost does not notice this incredible spectacle.  From there one sees, as far as the eye can see, bigger mountains tower; further above and even beyond the farthest horizon.

 It’s all about where you sit.

I was thinking about all of this as I was leaving a bread crumb trail of kids around town this morning.  While I was unloading at the elementary school, Cara Merrill (one of the teachers) pointed out a rainbow to me.... and there it was.  Right before my very eyes was the reminder that God is in his heaven and that as long as the earth endures, his covenant to be our God will remain.

From where I sit, this mountain looks huge.  From the other side, it’s an almost insignificant  land mark.  I wonder how big that mother's seemingly insurmountable mountain of pain seems to God this morning?  As she awakens to the reality of what her life has become, my prayer is that she will see the rainbow and remember the covenant.  Her pain is enormous but there is another side of that pain and on that side resides a great big God.  Be with her, almighty ONE, on this day, and help her to feel your presence, your power, your love, your peace and your grace.  AMEN!