Glory

From "a serious book about being happy in God."

Glory is not easy to define. It is like beauty. How would you define beauty? Some things we have to point at rather than define. But let me try. God's glory is the beauty of His manifold perfections. It can refer to the bright and awesome radiance that sometimes breaks forth in visible manifestations. Or it can refer to the infinite moral excellence of His character. In either case it signifies a reality of infinite greatness and worth. C.S. Lewis helps us with his own effort to point at it:

"Nature never taught me that there exists a God of glory and of infinite majesty. I had to learn that in other ways. But nature gave the word glory a meaning for me. I still do not know where else I could have found one. I do not see how the 'fear' of God could have ever meant to me anything but the lowest prudential efforts to be safe, if I had never seen certain ominous ravines and unapproachable crags."

Beginning up the main couloir on the south side of Panorama Peak.

Resting and enjoying the sun.

Continuing up. Looking south toward the Jack River and Nenana
River confluence.

Denali in the distance. 

At the top of the main couloir with summit above.

The last push to the summit.

Looking east from near the true summit. 

The true summit looking north down the Nenana River valley
toward the Denali National Park entrance.

Working our way back to the summit ridge using a safer route
than our ascent.

Descending the summit ridge.

Descending the couloir.

Western Alaska Range in the distance.

Panorama Peak from the road.

The upper end of the couloir and the summit from the road.

Ah, the spectacular and merciful display of God. A glimpse of the glory of God and the sense of "the fear of the LORD [that] is the beginning of knowledge."