How's the View?

Puget Sound is an arm of the Pacific Ocean that reaches into much of Western Washington. It has many islands, including a northern cluster known as the San Juan Islands. A number of the islands in the sound have state parks on them. A few of these parks are on islands close enough to shore that you can reach them by bridge. Others can be reached via foot, bike or car if one takes a ferry boat out of the town of Anacortes. Then there are a few that can only be reached if you have your own boat.

In late spring when I was about 11 years old, our family went on a four-day camping trip to Moran State Park on Orcas Island. Orcas is one of the larger islands in the San Juans, and is served by the international ferry that runs between Anacortes, Washington, and Sydney, BC, on Vancouver Island. The park has a number of lakes and four or five campgrounds.
The park also has Mt. Constitution, the top of which can be reached by car or trail. From the top, one has a panorama that is absolutely beautiful. To the southwest, across the Straits of Juan de Fuca, the snow-capped Olympic Mountains stand boldly in the sky. To the north are emerald green islands stretching into the distant Straits of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland. To the east lie the North Cascades, with two dormant, snow-capped volcanoes, Glacier Peak and Mt. Baker. To the south lies the channel of Puget Sound with its many islands. At the end of the sound, about 150 miles away, lies Mt. Rainier.


The campground we were at was on the larger lake, and had a concession that rented rowboats. Our father rented one for us. The second morning there, my older brother and I went fishing.

In late spring the weather is usually pretty good in the Northwest, but as luck would have it, we two boys were outside so it was time to rain. However, we were enjoying ourselves so much that we didn’t really notice the rain. We fished all morning in the rain. We fished until after lunch in the rain. When our mother finally got our attention from the shore, she was not in a good mood. She didn’t like camping in the rain; she didn’t like cooking in the rain; she didn’t like taking care of our little sister in the rain; and she didn’t like her boys out in the rain all day. What a different perspective on the day! We were having so much fun that we didn’t care if it rained, even though we didn’t catch anything (including colds).

As I’ve grown older and gone more places, I’ve learned at least two lessons from this experience. First, the view from a mountaintop depends on the situation. Mt. Constitution is only 2,049 feet high. With the stone observation platform, you might be able to stand close to 2,100 feet above sea level. Now, if that mountain had been surrounded by 6,000 foot peaks, the view wouldn’t have been all that great. But since the nearest peak that is taller than Mr. Constitution is some 25 to 30 miles away, the view is what it is. Too often we’re faced with a 2,100 foot problem, and all we can see are the 6,000 foot peaks Satan throws up around us. If we can remember that Christ promises that His grace is sufficient for us, the view will be so much better. Our perspective of situations is influenced by the setting we have pictured in our minds.

Secondly, when our family discusses this camping trip, we have totally different remembrances. Our mother remembers the dismal weather. My brother and I don’t remember anything about dismal weather. We do agree it was gray that day, and that we enjoyed seeing mist rising from the lake. We simply remember the fun we had. Perhaps at that point, we were applying Paul’s approach to our situation – we’d decided to be content in all situations. All too often, our perspective of situations is influenced by our attitudes. And this reminds me of a point I learned from a statement written by one of my favorite authors.

In a passage depicting the ransomed in heaven, she describes one of the saved approaching one of the heroes of the Bible (it may have been the apostle Paul), and asking him to tell the stories of all the tribulations he had gone through when he had lived on earth. The hero looked around at the beauty of heaven, the tears of joy on the many faces, and the crowd of people casting their crowns at the feet of Christ, and said, “Heaven is cheap enough.” In other words, from the perspective of earthly standards, we may have to go through terrible things; but from the perspective of the earth-made-new, we can hardly bring to mind the things that bothered us in that other life. If we can grasp that perspective in the here-and-now, it will help us tremendously when Satan assails us. Heaven is cheap enough! Heaven is cheap enough!

Could you please pass me that can of worms?

Dr. G