“…
This is my Father’s world,
And
to my listening ears
All
nature sings, and round me rings
The
music of the spheres.
This
is my Father’s world:
I
rest me in the thought
Of
rocks and trees of skies and seas ~
His
hand the wonders wrought …”
~
“This is My Father’s World”
~Christian hymn written by Maltbie Davenport
Babcock, a minister from New York, & published posthumously in 1901
With
Jacob’s Church standing tall on the hillside above, outdoorsmen set sail in a
canoe, listening to nature sing on Leaser Lake, in the shadow of the northern
Blue Mountain Ridge, New Tripoli, Pennsylvania. I shot this from the Leaser
Lake Loop Trail on a beautiful and peaceful mid-July afternoon.
With
a history dating back to 1761, Jacob’s Church describes itself as “The church
on a hill, shining forth for Jesus Christ,” according to its website http://www.jacobschurch.org/.
The
congregation erected outside spotlights to illuminate its beautiful “Blue
Mountain Stone Tower” in 1989.
Leaser Lake’s namesake is Frederick
Leaser, an American patriot who in September 1777 with his farm team hauled The
Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Allentown where it was concealed in Zion
Reformed Church for protection during the Revolutionary War. His homestead is
located one mile north of the lake.
Leaser
Lake was built by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission for water-oriented
recreation and opened for public use in 1971. Lehigh County leases this area
from the state and operates and maintains the park. The land north of the lake
was purchased by the county in the early 1970s. It is entirely wooded and is
used for nature study and as an addition to the State Game Lands No. 217.
