“… 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.
