Synthetic Trash vs. Majestic Beauty

 We arrived in New York City today.  Randy, myself, the girls and our friend Tracie. It was pretty comical as we left the airport with our bags and were trying to locate the car that we had reserved to take all of us to our hotel in Hells Kitchen, Manhattan. We wandered around a bit as I spoke on the phone with our driver, Savvar from Morocco.  He kept saying in a thick accent, "I'm over here! Do you see me?"  I kept telling him I had no idea what he looked like but eventually we figured it out. He was so friendly and chatted with Randy about the future of the Euro and the stability of the dollar while I was busy gasping at the tall buildings and the very humid air.  We took this picture with Savvar as he was leaving us after taking my $100.  Yikes.

We ventured out and walked 5 blocks into the heart of Times Square.  It was incredibly crowded and filled with tourists, people dressed up or accosting us with flyers and plying us for money. Rachel stopped to get her photo taken with some guys dressed up as "Bane" from Batman and "Chewbacca" from Star Wars.  They made a point of telling us that "Hey we work for tips".  Each of the girls and Tracie, at some point during our venture, turned and said, "I officially hate it here.  Times Square is awful!" I guess our Montana girls like the wide open spaces and rivers and mountains. I also have never had so many smells in my nose all at once (and most of them were foul!) It was a very sensory experience!

 















 We went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and met yet another amazing New Yorker. We may not care for the atmosphere of Times Square, but so far the people who live and work here are very friendly and kind.  Our server chatted with us even after he went off the clock and went out of his way to make us feel comfortable.  We had a great time together (until we had to go back outside!)  We visited the huge Toys-R-Us store and then decided to leave Times Square and go in search of older New York offerings. We loved all of the great architecture in the buildings.

Grand Central Terminal was... well, grand.  It was beyond majestic.  It was larger than I ever expected and I found myself just gawking at the high magnificent ceiling and marveling at the construction and architecture for such a mundane thing as transporting humans from point A to point B. People were hurrying to make a train, and I was enthralled with the beauty and grandeur of the place. All of us agreed that it was the best part of our day. We were so obviously tourists as we walked the whole way back to our hotel in awe of the many beautiful old buildings along the way.

I think this is the difference in what God views as good and worthy, and what we as humans tend to think are valuable.  There were so many people today clamoring.  For things, attention, money, status, position, pleasure. It was as if we were set in the middle of a comical circus but there were no caretakers. Everyone was fending for themselves and doing a terrible job of it. God's way is much like the Grand Central Terminal.  It was made for a very specific purpose but was also created to inspire and bless those that walked it's halls.  We are made with God's purpose and intention, but also handcrafted to display His grace and majesty in our very lives.  We are useful and beautiful, we are planned and creative genius.  We don't have to strive and scheme and maneuver.  We just are. What a freeing and reassuring reminder that we are all in His very capable and lovingly creative hands.  We are eternal beings that will be gawked at.

                                                               
                   We are God's crowning achievement.


For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them!      Psalm 139:13-17