Welcome Home

My wife and I have just returned from visiting family in Oklahoma for a week and a half. I haven't traveled much in the U.S. and this was my first time crossing the Mississippi river. I've lived in Tennessee and Georgia my entire life so seeing nothing but open fields as far as the eye could see is a little daunting. No, scratch that, it's more than daunting, it inspires the soul to fear and love it both at once. You can't help but feel incredibly microscopic when facing the overwhelming openness of Oklahoma's flat topography. There were still trees here and there but never have I been thrust into open beneath the heavens before in my life, naked and unprotected with nowhere to run and hide. I both feared and loved it.

[A huge rainbow appeared after it stormed in Okeene, Oklahoma last week.]

To dwell in and experience the grand marvels of nature I believe is an attraction that has been carved into our DNA. We just don't want to do without our air conditioners, McDonald's, and IPods. The yearning to return to our Edenic state runs throughout our history as we progress forward believing, hoping that it can be found at the end of our rainbow. Soon enough we'll find a cure for cancer, soon enough we'll find a cure for death. Man just might be able to recreate the Paradise found in our holy books if we aren't caught up by the Real Deal first. But will we be happy with an external Paradise without also finding an internal one?

We surround ourselves by our progress but we also seek to escape it. Vacation, safari, walkabouts, you name it and someone somewhere is escaping from civilization. There can be a hundred reasons why people escape but I believe the strongest reason is a drive to be in awe of and to become one with nature. Maybe it's our animal instincts calling us back home away from the alien caves and huts we have built around us, or maybe that still small voice can be heard clearer without our man made distractions. Whatever I heard blowing across the windy fields of Oklahoma I believe I can also find at home. If I take a minute to sit, listen, and look within I just might here it whisper "Welcome home, my son, welcome home".