The sky was particularly dramatic on Tuesday night. I, despite getting out of the house a little late, was sliding my truck around the corners of some of my favorite gravel roads…chasing the sunset.

I stopped by my new favorite foreground object, this well. It stands in the middle of a wheat field, and I’m astonished that I ever even noticed it. I took some pics a while back in front of a solid red sky, but tonight there was a far more interesting backdrop.

After a while, the sun began to fade. That’s okay, there were still plenty of good photos to get. The departing sun was just getting started, as its rays began to blaze glowing linings around the clouds. All the action was starting to take place over the hills, though, so it was back into the truck to leadfoot my way northwest in search of higher ground.

Although I was on the Bismarck side of the river, and quite far away, my new telephoto lens was able to provide this shot of the wind farm at Center. By this time the sky was getting darker, the colors more saturated, and the sun’s rays were causing some really cool effects on the remaining clouds.

After that it was back home to my family. I got to thinking about that well, and how amazing it was that I discovered it. It reminded me of John chapter 4, where Jesus is talking with the Samaritan woman at the well. He said, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” It’s true: only Jesus satisfies. I spent years –well, decades, really– feeling spiritual about my snowboarding, feeling spiritual about my motorcycling…people can feel a spiritual bond to anything they choose, but none of them will satisfy. In the book of Acts, Peter said, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” I used to think that terms like “Born Again” and “saved” were part of a clever branding effort by evangelicals. Boy, was I shocked when I realized that Jesus declared that “Ye must be born again” !!!

It seems like a miracle that I discovered true Biblical salvation just like it seems miraculous that I could spot a lonely wellhead sticking out of a wheat field while sliding by at 60 miles per hour. Thankfully both miracles came to be. Now I have a far greater appreciation for the beauty of God’s creation, and especially for the part of it that falls within the parcel that we call North Dakota. Bismarck-Mandan…there’s no place I’d rather live!