Beneath Whose Hand…

I was reminded of this phase from a poem by Rudyard Kipling while flying over the Rocky Mountains yesterday. I don’t know how many times I have flown over this majestic creation, but I never tire of it.


I am a geoscientist, a mining engineer by profession. I find geomorphology or the study of landforms and the processes that shape them fascinating. I love looking at the beauty of the passing countryside as I am driving through it, or in this case flying over it, and picturing the events and changes that have sculpted it into what I see today. I marveled yesterday for example at the long parallel striations I assumed resulting from the movement of billions of tons of ice that had flattened a long stretch of land in a landscape otherwise churned by massive upheavals and erosion.

In all of this, I see the creator’s hand. My faith is that a creative God formed the earth. I know many people struggle with that, and that is OK. My faith is simple – I do not. I am constantly in awe of the amazing creativity and diversity I see in the people and world, and am truly greatful that I have seen so much of it.

God of our fathers, known of old --

Lord of our far-flung battle line --

Beneath whose awful hand we hold

Dominion over palm and pine --

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

Lest we forget -- lest we forget!

(credit for the photographs belongs to others - just picked a few out randomly on the web)