Pura Vida!
My family and I recently returned from a PBU Tour to Costa Rica with a number of the University's friends. I have never been to Central America before. - Didn't know much about Coast Rica either. But we all learned about its history and culture and improved our Spanish. They have a national motto/greeting/response that everyone there says. "Pura Vida!" - pure life. Our guide informed us that it is an indication of the people's optimism and joy in living amidst such natural beauty and nature's bounty. The lush rainforests, cloud-forests, plantations, farms, and countryside are full of life. - Quite a contrast from the winter lawn and bare trees in Pennsylvania. Everywhere we went there were fresh fruit and vegetables, blooming flowers, and colorful birds. The tour was promoted as a natural beauty tour and we saw much of what God created good. We had many opportunities to reflect upon God's goodness and creativity. In fact, my messages for a series of sessions while we travelled were centered on Genesis 1-3 and the three basic elements of a biblical world view - creation, fall, redemption. And we saw evidence of all three. We marveled at creation from every angle. We saw the reality of the fall in the poverty, crime, pollution, and immorality. We also saw thriving churches and met Christians who are about God's work there and rejoiced that the message of God's redeeming love was being proclaimed and believed. As we drove over roads of varying quality and took in all there was to see, it was as though you could sense the truth of Romans 8, that all of creation was groaning, awaiting its final redemption and the return of its Creator. I am very grateful that PBU provides its students opportunities to travel the world and see it from different vantage points. -To see it as it is in reality, - beautiful and good, fallen and corrupted, redeemed and waiting. One day, in God's perfect timing we will have true Pura Vida!
