Why Australia?

Someone who read my first attempt at a blog yesterday asked me why I chose a photo (which I had taken) of a beach in Australia as a graphic for the blog. That's a good question, and becomes a segue into my second blog about the word penultimate.

When my wife and I stood on the edge of the Great Ocean Road leading from Melbourne to Adelaide in 1990, we were awed by the scene before us. My wife, a beach lover, saw a beautiful beach leading around to a well-photographed landform. It was a beautiful site, one which I have treasured in this photo and in an oil painting I created shortly after returning to the USA.

But my eyes were drawn to the horizon and the realization that the next landform to be found to the south of this place was Antartica, the southern pole of the planet Earth. Here we stood on the penultimate landform before the last. It has become an icon for me whenever I find myself thinking in a penultimate state of mind.

The massiveness of the Earth and its perfection in creation are beyond human comprehension. We can see pictures of the planet taken from the Moon and from outer space, and it gives us some idea of the size and quality of this creation. And some have been able to traverse the oceans and landforms to circumvent the Earth. But the place where the nature of the Earth is beyond comprehension is in the human mind.

The complexities of rotation and circumnavigation, creating seasons, days and every aspect of time are incredible. They are so dependable, allowing the creatures of the Earth (humans as well as others) to plan and execute those tasks necessary for survival. Growth patterns for the fauna of the world are determined by these phenomena. The list of unbelievable themes is endless.

So...why a photo of Australia's Great Ocean Road to Adelaide? Perhaps you can experience just a flavor of the way in which it impacts my thinking and my spirituality. I have no desire to set foot on Antartica. This penultimate experience provides me with enough awe to last a lifetime.

Jed