Power Lines

Sometimes, I think we take for granted what mankind is truly capable of doing. What we've accomplished in barely a century of manufacturing, creating a world that was only imagined by H.G. Wells in the late 1800's. An example: When we first moved to Georgia in 1987, my dad drove us up to the intersection of I-85 and I-285, to what is called "Spaghetti Junction." What a magnificent work of architecture! Bridges spanning miles, stretching up to the sky, carrying the working force of Atlanta to and fro. Now, having been here for many years, it conjures images of traffic jams, accidents, natural disaster movies. But just look at the tons of concrete, steel beams, supporting slabs of rock and metal, all fused together by fire and sweat, by the men who worked long days, as if to make the Great Pyramids, just so we can drive our cars across them. It's hard to be humble at a sight such as this. The window-cleaners that span this countries' tallest skyscrapers should feel this pride in what this two-legged animal has done with their own hands. And the purpose for these monuments? Just to get from point A to point B. To work. To play. To earn money and support the family. We create wonders of the world just to go about our daily lives, as if this were perfectly normal. And that's because it is. We have the ability to make things that our ancestors would call miraculous, a work of God, just so we can listen to the radio on our cell phones, or drive our cars (which are a marvel in themselves) to work and back. It becomes normal that we've been in space for 50 years now, as if space were simply down the street, the local grocery store.

Power Lines at South Rockdale Community Park

To understand what I'm talking about, I propose a short walk. The city of Conyers is but a short drive from Atlanta, and we have created long paved paths for people to walk on. Go to The Path Foundation to get maps to the paths in Rockdale County. Specifically, the South River Trail that goes from East Fairview Rd to Daniels Bridge Rd. I went there a couple of weeks ago to take a walk, having cabin fever for most of the day. I trudged up the first few 100 yards, being straight uphill, through the forest, watching the squirrels gather food, oblivious to me, and I was quite out of breath when I got to the clearing. Stretching from horizon to horizon, far above my head, were cables attached to giant metal frames, carrying electricity from the power plants to the city of Conyers, operating the blenders in the coffee shops, the cash registers of the grocery stores, the lights in the houses of the people. Giant power lines, each humming with power, with the musical vibrations of power. It was amazing to see, to walk under. It looked like the parting of the forest so that this giant God could stick forks in the ground and tie them together. And yet it was not God, but us, that did this.

Some people would call it sacrilegious to think this way, but I think otherwise. We create our structures in emulation of God. We become, in some small sense, the Creator, and in doing so, hopefully, we can learn of God's love for us through our love of our own creations. Would a potter, having made an object, pulled it from the fires of the kiln, not love it as much as a child born of the womb? Or an author, who when he finished the last line of the book, closes the binding and sends it off into the world, much like a graduating senior? So did God create us, and loved us, and sent us out into the world with free will to do what would please Him. In that, we are learning to become like God by creating as He did. I did a series of blogs about the idea of creation and emulation, etc, starting at this post, and the 7 following it. Anyhoo...

So back to the walking trails. The best trails in Conyers, in my opinion, are the ones at the South Rockdale Community Park, which is where the power lines cross right next to the South River. Some beautiful bridges and shoreline scenery. I'm gonna go there more often, just to see the wonders of Rockdale County. The great part about it is that very few people know about the trails, so it's quite peaceful. If nothing else, I'll go to hear the Bb Concert hum of the power lines, and see them as they stretch onward towards forever.