The view from Sulfur Mountain Road in the Ojai Valley of California. (Photo Courtesy of Jim Burklo)
Special to United Methodist Insight | July 23, 2026
Past a stand of bay laurel trees, the dirt road drew me uphill, my boots puffing up pale dust. Ahead to the right was a tar seep. For a while I stared at the sinuous blobs and shifting, stretching strands of oil floating in a rivulet across the road, as mesmerizing as a light show at a ‘60’s rock concert. Out of that reverie I walked onward and up to the first switchback under a grove of oaks, then the second, and at the third switchback a view opened to the west. The oak-studded hills were clothed in bright green grass, dotted with clusters of the first poppies of spring. I paused to savor the sight, absorbing a deepening silence. I walked slowly on the leveling road, gazing beyond at the sensuously rounded landscape with gnarled oaks hovering over it like clouds. I sensed a presence. I was with a seeming Someone in that landscape, under that bright sun, immersed in a brooding quietude.
The universe is enchanted, but are we awake to it? Can we sense it? Can we savor it? Our souls yearn to experience it, but are we looking for it in the right places?
Past a stand of bay laurel trees, the dirt road drew me uphill, my boots puffing up pale dust. Ahead to the right was a tar seep. For a while I stared at the sinuous blobs and shifting, stretching strands of oil floating in a rivulet across the road, as mesmerizing as a light show at a ‘60’s rock concert. Out of that reverie I walked onward and up to the first switchback under a grove of oaks, then the second, and at the third switchback a view opened to the west. The oak-studded hills were clothed in bright green grass, dotted with clusters of the first poppies of spring. I paused to savor the sight, absorbing a deepening silence. I walked slowly on the leveling road, gazing beyond at the sensuously rounded landscape with gnarled oaks hovering over it like clouds. I sensed a presence. I was with a seeming Someone in that landscape, under that bright sun, immersed in a brooding quietude.
The universe is enchanted, but are we awake to it? Can we sense it? Can we savor it? Our souls yearn to experience it, but are we looking for it in the right places?
Jim Burklo 2022
The Rev. Jim Burklo
The Rev. Jim Burklo is pastor of the United Church of Christ of Simi Valley, California. This post is republished from his Substack blog.