“After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.” (Rev. 19:1-5)
Last weekend I got to do something that I’ve never really thought that much about doing before. But, in an effort to find something interesting to do while hanging out with my buddy Alan, we ended up at the Portland International Raceway,…and just happened to time it perfectly for an exciting motorcycle racing event!
Despite the fact that I grew up in Portland and was very much aware of most of the activities going on at the raceway, it never really seemed like something that I would be all that interested in. I always imagined a bunch of party animal people, enamored with greasy machines and loud noises, pushing the envelope on the limitations of physics and with little regard for bodily harm, or at least not for long term health concerns.
Upon entrance to the park my initial concerns seem to be confirmed. An ambulance was parked right next to the track, and the moment we heard the first racers roar past us our windows rattled and wondered if it would even be safe to get out of the car.
At speeds double that of highway traffic, the racers seem to zoom by with reckless abandon. And having never seen anything like this up close before it was honestly quite unnerving. At the same time, it was very impressive to see how well these racers controlled their compact crotch rockets, and with seeming fearlessness!
Having never been to the park before I decided to drive around the perimeter of it and scope out some of the better places for taking in the events. We discovered a grassy knoll above the first turn in the track and felt this would be a great vantage point for some photography.
We didn’t know the schedule for the events and had no idea how long it would last, so immediately I began firing away. Focused on the tension of the tightly spaced riders and their cornering skills.
Meanwhile Alan had made himself comfortable on the grass. We were both mesmerized with the train of speed demons flying by, and for a while we didn’t pay attention to much else. Before long though Alan said to me, “did you see that monarch?” I didn’t know what he was talking about at first and wondered if it was one of the motorbikes that he was looking at. “No” he said, “the butterfly right there.” as he pointed down at the grass.
This would be just the first of many occasions that day when Alan would redirect my attention to things that although we’re right in front of me I was not even noticing because of where my attentions were currently focused… namely the attention assaulting motorbikes.
I decided to join Alan on the grass and try to balance my enthusiasm for capturing some cool pics of this insane sport with a more relaxed posture, in which I could also enjoy the not so obvious things as well.
Following the end of one of the first races we watched, the winner made a celebratory victory run, and waved to the fans. It wasn’t until later, upon reviewing my pictures, that I noticed some of the unique distinctives of this rider. And later got a close up of his bike.
Of course this didn’t pass by Alan. And he made sure I saw it as well. The thought came to my mind, what is it about “The Beast” of the Apostle John’s revelation that many find so intriguing? And why after 2000 years since it was thoroughly defeated by Jesus do people still both fear and attempt to resurrect its power?
I think it has something to do with our own rebel natures. The idea that God always ultimately wins is troubling for many free-willed creatures, and I think they like to “stick it to the man” once in a while, just to keep things interesting. At least that’s the theory I’m going with.
The sad thing is, on the other end of the spectrum, are many “well meaning religious people” who are so driven by their fears that they still believe beastly “Antichrist” figures are yet to come and threaten them, and even disrupt the Kingdom of God. Now I don’t believe there’s a shred of biblical evidence to support these fears, and yet people who call themselves “pastors” and “prophets” continue to perpetuate these lies. Perhaps it’s just my YouTube feed but we seem to be going through another intense cycle of gloom and doom, “end times” prophecies. Personally, I don’t get it!
The concept of “end times” or specifically “end of time” is not found anywhere in the entire Bible. The closest the Scriptures come to such a concept is in the book of Daniel where he talks about a “time of the end”. Of course the prophecy prognosticators never stop one second to inquire what that “time of the end” is referencing, and to end of what?
For some unknown reason to me, human beings still want to believe that prophecies which were not even directed at them have fulfillment in a future in which the entire planet will be destroyed. And then point to modern-day phenomena that has zero relevance to those Scriptures as evidence for this cataclysmic event. Even while growing up around such groups of people I never understood where they were coming from.
The reality of God’s sovereign and gracious guidance over all of His creation, including humanity has always been so incredibly self-evident to me. And now that I actually understand the Scriptures and how the “new creation” that the apostles spoke about was not the physical world but, rather the “cosmos” (which literally means “orderly arrangement” and in context “covenantal arrangement” between people and himself, I have seen nothing but His magnificent rule and reign without interruption.
I think the biggest problem people have with accepting this reality is that they pile on expectations which are not grounded anywhere in Scripture. Ideas like “no more pain or suffering of any kind” and the end of all physical death, which obviously hasn’t happened. And then they reference passages in Scripture like Isaiah 65 or Revelation 21 where the “New Heavens and Earth” are described. Only they don’t look at those passages honestly enough to admit that such broad sweeping expectations are actually foreign to those texts.
Just as in the original Genesis Eden garden the New Heavens and Earth are not places in which every kind of difficulty and suffering and death are absent, but places where God’s comforting presents and protective guidance are experienced in greater measure. The New Covenant world, in which Jesus established 2,000 years ago, is not a new physical environment but rather a greater and more intimate spiritual reality. One in which we can know the perfect piece of God even while enduring our physical and metaphorical crosses in this life.
After exploring the perimeter of the race track Alan and I were surprised to find out that we were also allowed to crossover to the inside of the track, and even stand up next to the track near the finish line. The atmosphere there was surprisingly relaxed, allowing fans to stand right up next the track, and literally feel the waves of 100 decibels of thunderous noise.
The scene felt kind of dystopian to me. Like this wasn’t real life, but rather just a movie set. Both fans and riders seem to be locked into whatever it was they were focusing on while Alan and I roamed around seemingly unnoticed, unless we made an effort to engage with someone.
We were noticed by a cute dog and a couple little boys, but both who seemed to be alert to things that most were not.
Perhaps the plugs in their ears heightened their awareness to other things…
We noticed that on the other side of the parking lot there was a big open park area, and a river of some sort that ran down the middle of it. I realized later that it was part of the Columbia slough.
Here is a map that shows how things are laid out there.
Alan and I walked though the park and then along the edge of the slough. Only 100 yd from the tracks edge we were surprised to see a pair of geese slowly saunter in front of us, and then a beautiful egret perched on a log in the slough. Neither seemingly aware of the loud commotion going on all around them.
We passed by the Motocross track and I noticed a nest on top of one of the light poles. As we got closer to it I could see and hear a pair of osprey. Unfortunately I could not capture a very good picture of them from my angle, but it was surprising nonetheless that in a place as noisy and active as this they would choose to make it their home.
As we continued along the slough, I noticed that you could see the bikes racing loudly by on the other side of the trees. As I stopped to take a picture of this Alan noticed a pretty good size turtle balancing on a log, while a mallard duck drifted by. The confluence of all of these elements in one scene was most amusing to me, and I only wished that I had brought my longer lens to capture in greater detail all of the wildlife that we were beginning to see.
Near the end of the slough there were less trees and you could see riders racing by on the other side.
And yet in this exposed environment, only 50 yd from the track we continue to see more wildlife. A family of beavers, various song birds and more ducks, almost like they were staged there, as at a zoo.
Generally speaking I need my large telephoto lens to get this kind of tightly framed wildlife pictures. But for some reason these creatures had not only adapted to this environment but become even less afraid than what they usually are.
It got me thinking, maybe that’s what humanity needs right now. It needs to be exposed to a more loud and obnoxious environment. Not a society that is completely out of control, but one where a lot of the comforts that we have come to take for granted are stripped away. Perhaps then we can discover, once more, that our peace of mind and heart really aren’t dependent upon a Utopian environment. And that our drama filled world is actually just as God intended it to be… Both wild and wonderful!
Thank you, Lord Jesus!!!
Through Spiritual Eyes 
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