An Arkie’s Faith Rocky Mountain High

bum title from “Mother Nature’s Son” to “Rocky Mountain High.” song of Colorado.

As the song took shape over the next few weeks, John thought about his life up to this point. Moving to the mountains of Colorado and escaping the smog, chaos, and superficiality of Los Angeles had changed his life and perspective. He poured his heart into the meaning of the Rocky Mountain high, and his writing became very personal.

John Denver wrote in the third person about how the mountains transformed the song’s protagonist and said it was like being born again and finding the key to every door. Even though “Rocky Mountain High” was a diary expressed in the third person, it portrayed his new life, love of nature and the mountains, and ecological manifesto.

In one of my favorite lines from the song, John Denver sings, “You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply, Rocky Mountain high, Colorado.” Spending time in nature has profoundly affected my spiritual life. Something about a towering mountain, a colorful wildflower, a rushing waterfall, or a starry, moonless night reminds me that my God is incredible! The more time I spend in God’s wonderful creation, the better I know Him.

An exceptionally awe-inspiring night in Colorado inspired the song. That night, John witnessed a Perseid meteor shower while camping with friends at Williams Lake. The singer wrote about the experience in his autobiography. “I remember, almost to the moment, when that song started to take shape in my head. We were working on the next album, and it was to be called ‘Mother Nature’s Son,’ after the Beatles song, which I’d included,” he wrote. “It was set for release in September. In mid-August, Annie and I and some friends went up to Williams Lake to watch the first Perseid meteor showers. Imagine a moonless night in the Rockies in the dead of summer, and you have it. I had insisted to everybody that it was going to be a glorious display. Spectacular, in fact.”

Denver says that he went out onto the lake for a while and when he came back, his group had returned to their tents. But soon, the meteor shower started, just as spectacular as John thought it would be. “I went back and lay down next to Annie in front of our tent, thinking everybody had gone to sleep, and thinking about how in nature all things, large and small, were interwoven, when swoosh, a meteor went smoking by,” Denver wrote. “And from all over the campground came the awed responses ‘Do you see that?’ It got bigger and bigger until the tail stretched out all the way across the sky and burned itself out. Everybody was awake, and it was raining fire in the sky.”

Many of the visuals you hear in the Rocky Mountain high lyrics come from this night. Lines such as “I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky,” “The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullaby,” and “Serenity of a clear blue mountain lake” are inspired by this experience. The song impacted John Denver so much that he changed the al-

Nature can show us God’s beauty, glory, power, presence, and creativity if we pay attention. In Psalms 19:1,2 (NLT), David wrote, “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.”

In Romans 1:20 (NLT), the Bible tells us that “Ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

Gentle Reader, whether you are into hiking, camping, kayaking, or just sitting on the porch of a cabin, take the time to explore God’s creation and connect with the amazing God who created it. “Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you. Speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea tell you. Every one of these knows that the hand of the Lord has done this.” Job 12:7-9 (NCV)

Good Citizenship Scholarship Essay winners

Submitted by Kathy Hagler

The James K. Polk Chapter, NSDAR, awarded the winners of the Good Citizen Scholarship Essay contest at their February meeting.

Winners

• Carmen Alyse Puckett, Mena High School, first place, awarded $150

• Presten Reed McGee, Acorn High School, second place, awarded $100

• Third place —tie:

• Pahola Morales Medina, Caddo Hills High School, awarded $50

• Christian Eric Hoyle, Cossatot High School, awarded $50

All the winners also received a certificate and a lapel pin.

The DAR Good Citizen’s program and scholarship contest is intended to encourage and reward the qualities of good citizenship- dependability, service, leadership and patriotism. These students were selected by their teachers, administrators and peers because they demonstrate these qualities to an outstanding degree. The program is open to all senior class students enrolled in an accredited public or private secondary schools.