The Volcano

Santiago, one of Nicaragua's numerous active volcanoes, is one of the few volcanoes in the world where you can drive to the rim and peer into the crater to see the hot, molten lava--without being consumed by it, or I wouldn't be here to tell the story.

The day this photo was taken, years ago, my sister and I felt compelled to crawl, not walk, to the edge on our hands and knees. I remember thinking how wild and untamed the area was. There were no guardrails to keep people from falling off or throwing themselves off. No one did that day, but I wouldn't have been surprised to hear that it had happened. There was kind of an eerie 'pull' that threatened to drag you downward.

On the other hand, here in the States I have always felt that nature was tamed and safe and predictable. National parks have park rangers, well-marked paths, picnic tables, trash cans, and maps with little arrows that say, "You are here". Of course, people do wander off the beaten track and sometimes get lost or fall over a waterfall, as happened this summer in Yosemite Park. But you have to ignore a lot of warnings and safety rails in order to do so.

I think sometimes we tend to put guardrails around our perception of God and think we can tame Him somehow and compartmentalize Him. We don't quite realize how majestic and holy and completely untamable He truly is.

Putting a guardrail around the crater may lull us into thinking that we are safe and that the lava is harmless and manageable. How silly. Only God can tame the potential fury of the molten lava and keep it from erupting.

Or not.

"Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness. Tremble before Him, all the earth! . . .Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!"

I Chronicles 16: 28-31