A Colorful World
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Hebrews 11:3 (NIV)
Before Michael and I were married, he took me for a ride down the 11-mile (dirt) Landrus Road. Our goal was to see a bear. About half way into our ride, I looked down over the edge of this narrow road (with no guard rails) and saw what I questionably termed: “Either it’s Big Foot or a bear standing up!” It quickly disappeared and we drove on slowly. Up from over the side it came and crossed the road in front of us. What a joy to finally see a bear in the wild! Eryn Lynum (All God’s Creatures) shares her bear story and what she learned.
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I stood with my husband and young children beside the Gunnison River. We were hemmed in by the daunting 2,000-foot walls of the Black Canyon. It was hard to believe any large animals could call this narrow canyon, with it impressively steep hillsides and cliffs, home. And so I was surprised at my husband’s exclamation, “There’s a bear in the river!”
A large bear was waddling in the waters on the opposite riverbank. We watched as it masterfully snatched a fish from the water and then ran up the steep hillside back into the woods with lunch clutched in its jaws.
Afterward, my husband commented on how light the bear’s coloring was. We knew we have black bears in Colorado, but this looked brown. We mentioned this to the ranger behind the desk at the visitor center.
“Oh yes! That’s our cinnamon bear. She has two cubs right now,” the ranger explained. Now we understood we’d witnessed the mama sow catching lunch for her cubs. I’d never heard of a cinnamon bear. After some research, we discovered that the ranger and we were talking about the same animal, and that a cinnamon bear is a black bear. We also learned that black bears come in many colors, including blonde, silvery gray, or even white. These bears are known as “color phase” black bears. How creative God is. He dreamt up every color and then used those colors to add wonder to our world.
If I had seen the bear that day and settled on simply calling it a bear, I would have missed out on the wonderful discovery of color phase bears. Instead, by remaining curious, I discovered a creative Maker who splashed the world in color.
Walk of Faith: Go on a walk through a natural area and notice all the colors you see, particularly of creatures. Bring a notebook and record those colors in your own creative words.