In August of 2023, we decided to camp for a week along the shores of Abraham Lake, somewhat off the beaten path of the Icefields parkway connecting Jasper and Banff. Abraham Lake is full of various camping spots designated as public land, allowing for a wide variety of experiences. Whether you want to be right by the reservoir, beneath more forested sections, parked in an RV in an open field, or have your own little riverfront view, you can find it.
Wanting a more secluded, quiet week, we camped at the south end of the lake where the North Saskatchewan flows into the reservoir. The days rolled leisurely by as we read, walked, and napped in a hammock, all along the banks of the glacially tinted waters. One evening as the campfire waned, a friend noticed a shimmering above us. Looking up, the Northern lights made their appearance, dancing across the peaks and above the waters.
Fujifilm GFX 50R & GF 50mm f/3.5 - 10s, f/3.5, ISO 1600
After watching the sky shift and ripple, the others headed to bed and I grabbed my camera and tripod. I've always loved photographing the night sky, partially due to the aspect of long exposures. While our eyes can only gather so much light, a camera sensor open for 10 seconds such as in this photo, or for minutes or even hours, gives a view into the world beyond our own scope of time. The moments we experience coalesce into one, blended rather than fragmented, expression of reality. The night sky is brighter than we can see, if you will. The aurora has colors that we can't always see. There is more reality beyond our sensory capabilities.
Beneath the sky, surrounded by the constant, dominating but reassuring flow of the river, I felt close to the spiritual realities beyond what we can sense. It was a moment of awe, of feeling so heartbreakingly human, a moment of awareness of our potentiality. To borrow one of my wife's favorite phrases, it was "agony and ecstasy". Truly, we are made for greatness, a greatness that I believe is reached the more and more human we become. The closer and closer we come to Christ, who is the fullness of humanity and the fullness of Divinity. The awe, the wonder, the experiences beneath the beauty of the sky, brought me closer to an experience of being more fully alive, which is necessarily an experience of closeness to God by means of Jesus' incarnation.
He said "I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full" - John 10:10
