waves of honesty

i cannot even begin to count the number of times i driven up to manhattan. my car knows the road well. but last weekend, my little silver saturn took me for a different ride. for the first time, i went up highway 177. oh my goodness. what was i thinking ever going another way? how did i miss this? with shawn mcdonald's here am i playing as loud as my speakers would allow, i massaged the rolling roads with my wearing wheels. glorious. sometime in life you must all drive through the flinthills of kansas, though i ask that you not do it while i am driving along this highway. one, because other cars slighlty spoil the experience. and two, because i have a feeling i might be kind of dangerous steering my car with one hand at 70mph as i roll my windows down to snap pictures with the other.

after i started the ragamuffin gospel by brennan manning last week, it did not left my side until it was finished. tomorrow, i will begin his 2 day conference. i have a feeling much is to come. he writes such pure, simple truths. i cannot get these basic statements out of my head:

"honesty simply asks if we are open, willing, and able to acknowledge the truth. honesty brings an end to pretense through a candid acknowledgment of our fragile humanity...honesty before God requires the most fundamental risk that God is good, that God does love us unconditionally. it is in taking this risk that we rediscover our dignity. to bring the truth of ourselves, just as we are, to God, just as God is, is the most dignified thing we can do in this life." [138]

so as i'm driving through these rolling hills, i cannot help but think of how "honest" they seem to me. they are not made to carry glorious mountains or mighty trees. they hide nothing. all is exposed. the sky is big, the sunsets are bigger. they are unprotected; they are uncovered. they risk everything. in their vulnerability, they seem completely full of peace. full of beauty.
they are dignified.

[click photo for more driving shots]