Fields of Roofs

In 1954 my hometown boasted a population of 12,500…or was it 25,000? My memory has blurred, yet the contrast with today’s 470,000 census is stark. Our wide agricultural valley is slowly turning into urbanville. Endless neighborhoods, sprawling subdivisions, and acres of multistoried apartments cover vast fields once known for prime pheasant hunting.

The longest part of a trip home from the hills, or from out of state, is hopscotching through city traffic lights, enduring road construction, and dodging endless vehicles before finally reaching our driveway. How blessed we are to have lived in this great valley before these congested times. And to dwell still in this place where remnants of the old ways remain.

A visit to a family member’s home recently took dear husband and me high above the valley floor. Up, up, up we drove, winding past urban homesteads, new build subdivisions, and private acreages dotted with pastures, horses, and gardens. We passed beautiful new homes and high end mansions perched on the hillsides. A bright blue circular above-ground pool glistened in a bright green lawn, the color contrasting with the surrounding dry, brown, timeless, sagebrush-dotted hills begging for rain. All we saw was a dramatic testament of what was…history of old days…and what now is.

A few turns after beginning of our forty-five minute return trip home, we crested a hill, and the sad evidence below us of urban crawl convicted itself. Within a few months, the new subdivision had burgeoned. Only the street-side walls of the boundary homes were visible. All one could see now were slate grey roof tops – gutters nearly touching – undulating in waves for acres. Grey…no green showing in between.

Where were the yards for children to run and play, chase dogs and balls, build a fort or treehouse? Were the spendy houses built just so for high density tax revenue? As sterile and stark as they appeared from above, I could not help but imagine glorified boxes to incubate wireless connected brain-frames…devoid of life.

We jostled our way home through the congestion, construction, and confusion reminiscing about simpler days, and wondering, in the tradition of grandparents, what our grandchildren would experience in the future. May the beauty, essence, and lessons of the old ways remain.

We pulled into our tiny spot of nature in our green-scaped neighborhood, and as we opened our house door, no barking dogs, purring cats, or goldfish greeted us. Only the familiar shapes, sounds, and messages of the small, large, larger, and largest screens welcomed us in. Would we turn on the wireless things? Hmmm. Seems we, too, are testaments of what was and what is.

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LORD, from whom all blessings flow, thank You for Your provision. Give us wisdom to keep our eyes on You, Truth, and wholeness in our fast paced world. Show us Your way in an ongoing idolatrous society where things, achievements, pleasures, and pride compete, congest, and confuse for our allegiance, obedience, and worship of You. Help us see clearly, guide our choices, light our paths. And let not the beauty of Your holiness fade from our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Jeremiah 6:16a NKJV “Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it;
Then you will find rest for your souls.”

Psalm 19:12 NLT “How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.”

James 4:10 NLT “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”

1 John 1:9 NKJV “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”