Seeing God's grandeur is always believing in it

The beauty of God’s grandeur is ready to fall upon us as color galore will unfold in the coming weeks! Southeast Missouri has got to be one of the most beautiful locations in our country to view the tall and bold trees marked with golds and reds and yellows and browns and all type of different hues and shades in between…..what a spectacular display awaits us.
Whether it’s a full immersion into the woods or a daily walk or run around town, you can’t afford to miss any of it!
Like so many things in life, it’s easy to take this all for granted.
But as I keep seeing reported wild fires and hurricanes and storms destroying so much beauty in many communities besieged with such natural destruction, make it a point to take part in experiencing God’s gift of color!
And our October colors can become a beautiful backdrop to all kinds of excursions for either individuals or families. Beginning right here in our Perry County area, how about a walk around our Perry County Community Lake or the grounds of St. Mary’s Seminary. Or maybe you’d prefer to venture a bit further east or west:
--Mark Twain National Forest, due west of Perryville past Farmington, offers an array of forested mountains with scenic rivers, lakes and streams.
--Heading towards the morning sun you’ll find Trail of Tears State Park or even further east Shawnee National Park across the Mississippi, known for its woodland forests, rolling hills and lakes.
-- Maybe you’re fine with a leisurely drive north or south on Highway 61 or a spin north on Interstate 55 through Ste. Genevieve County, all routes bursting with colors and stunning vistas….
But whatever your choice, knowing that all we see is a true gift from our Creator, can alert us, once again, that God’s grandeur is in sight.
The Lord’s grandness and magnificence in color has been captured by the British poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, in 1877, through his poem, God’s Grandeur. Hopkins conveys his reverence for the magnificence of God and nature, and his despair about the way humanity has seemed to lose sight of the close connection between God and His creation.
Taking the time to experience this grandeur has become for many, a lost art.
But we’re urged by the poet, to never lose sight that nature never loses its power, and deep down, God’s life always continues to exist. 
And our task this time of year is also a blessing: to open our eyes to creation, highlighted in color, where seeing is believing in beautiful Perry County, Missouri.
God’s Grandeur 

BY GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
crushed. Why do we then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man›s smudge and shares man›s smell: the soil
is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
The Reverend Jay Jung, C.M., is the Senior Priest in Service at St. Vincent dePaul Parish in Perryville. Ordained in 1977, he graduated from St. Mary’s of the Barrens College Seminary in 1973 and has served in both educational settings and parish ministry for over 45 years. He is a member of the Congregation of the Mission, commonly known as the Vincentian Fathers and Brothers.