FEATURED: Perspective in Yosemite
by Kate Lab
PERSPECTIVE IN YOSEMITE
“The mountains are calling and I must go."
—John Muir, in a letter to his sister Sarah Galloway, September 3, 1873,
from Life and Letters of John Muir, Chapter 10 (1923)
PERSPECTIVE I:
I must go
To the mountains,
To the towering trees.
I must see and be seen
By things bigger than me.
Against such beauty,
I can hardly think.
Against such grandeur
My problems shrink.
And yet,
Without a maker
The mountains mock me.
“You are insignificant
And small,” they taunt me.
“You will die and turn to dust,
What you love decays and rusts.”
But
But
But
If the God who made the mountains
Numbers the hairs on my head,
If the God who stays the proud waves of the ocean
Sent His son in my stead,
Then
The majesty of the mountains
Is a love song to me,
Being in this wild and wonderful world
Brings me peace
Like the river
Or the stream.
PERSPECTIVE II:
When I see these giant trees
These rooted solid growing things.
How could they spring up from seeds
Falling on the ground?
And I wonder at the flowers that grow
On the side of this high mountain road
Who planted them to bloom in rows
By my eyes to be found?
When between these pristine peaks I stand,
I’m struck by just how small I am.
What is mankind that you are mindful of him
And know us all by name?
I am near paralyzed in awe
When in these mountains I do hear a call,
By the Potter who has formed them all,
My good God who is not tame.
I will never be the same.
KATE LAB
Kate Lab is a poet and artist based in Lancaster, PA, and the founder of Kate Creates, a platform for her original art, poetry, lament and grief cards, and devotionals. She holds a BA in Biblical Theology from Moody Bible Institute and is married to Joe, who pastors a small church in Lancaster. Together, they have two beautiful children, Ethan and Eliza.
Kate began writing poetic prayers as a way to process the pain and grief of life in a broken world, grounded in the hope and security of a good and powerful God. Her poetry has been featured on platforms like Risen Motherhood, Well-Watered Women, Humana Obscura, and The Way Back to Ourselves. She aims to make modern and accessible poetry that shows the universal experiences of life in a sin-stained world with the hope of salvation and redemption through Jesus.