Waterfall Glen and Principle

Controlled burn allows

sunlight to reach the forest floor --

even after the summer leaves appear.

As we walked the crushed limestone paths at Waterfall Glen, my sister made a startling announcement. “Look at all this!” her gesture took in the pond of very vocal spring peepers, the pylons carrying power lines next to a freight train track, and the forest we were about to enter. “God is so Principle.”

“Principle?”

“Umhmm,” she nodded.

Silence as I tried to figure out how this woman whom I love, admire, and respect, came up with Principle, of all things. “And what do you like about God as Principle?”

“Principle is like the big umbrella with everything else included under it. Principle is the structure that allows everything else to work harmoniously. It’s like the pylon that allows power to be delivered to where it’s needed.

It’s like the traffic lights. Everyone knows what the laws are – green you go, red you stop. When everyone obeys the laws, there is order. Not just for you, but for everybody. That's Principle. If somebody ignores the laws, whap! It isn’t that God is angry with you or is punishing you, you just have to obey the laws that are in place.”

We spotted a flicker working the top of a tall dead tree. With binoculars we marveled at his wonderful camouflage -- accented by his magnificent red head.

We marveled at the tidiness of the controlled burn areas. The tree trunks weren’t even scorched. The strangling buckthorn had been vanquished.

Is that what God as Principle does? Sets up a controlled framework that destroys whatever would thwart our spiritual progress – without harming us!

Another week of this weather, and spring wildflowers will dot the forest floors, responding to the warmth and sunlight.

Is that what God as Principle does? Arranges things so that we can thrive in the light of His love?

I’ll be thinking a lot more about God as Principle, and what that means.