God and colorful birds

I recently spent a few days "up north" at a friend's lake house. I have always loved this vague directional designation for random vacation locales in Minnesota, simply for the fact of its vagueness and randomness, but that is neither here nor there. My daughter and I had the pleasure of joining some friends and a varied collection of their siblings, children, spouses and parents for two days of "summer camp," as we called it. It was a blast.

My friend's family is made up of some of the most ambitious people I know. Whereas my typical vacation day schedule goes something like "meal, activity, meal, activity, meal, bed time (emphasis on the meals)," their typical vacation day schedule is packed to the hilt with yoga, cooking, crafts, exercise, picnics, games, activities, play time, outings, shopping, eating, singing, storytelling and maybe an occasional nap stolen by some rogue member of the bunch. It's quite a sight. They are also incredibly kind and generous and the physical setting was beautiful and serene, surrounded by the woods and waters of "Lake Country."

I don't often, if ever, speak openly about God or my spiritual beliefs as this sort of talk doesn't always go over well. However, I'm going to go out on a limb here and admit that I feel certain I met with divinity out on the lakes. I actually think it's difficult to deny God's existence when you're out in a natural setting. My own spiritual beliefs tend to be fairly simple in that one of the only reasons I believe in God is because of colorful birds. Maybe this makes no sense, but when I see a bright red cardinal in the dull gray landscape of winter, I think to myself, you see? There goes God. I can't elaborate much more than that.

There is not always a practical function to all of the colorful birds, or for that matter, the colorful flowers, animals and waters of the world. But there are certain creatures, certain moments in time that are just too perfect to be random. And that may be the reason the colorful birds exist. They make you smile, they make you feel happiness and love. It's all I really need to believe.