Nature Speaks
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.”
Psalm 19:1-2
I love nature! There is nothing that speaks to my heart more clearly of the majesty of Almighty God than the beauty and wonder of creation. Whether rafting the class five rapids of a pristine Rocky Mountain river, or watching the sun appear over an eastern wall of an Arizona canyon, or walking through the California redwoods, or gazing up at an African sky so clear and close it seems as though you could reach out and touch a star, time and again I’ve uttered these words:
“How could anyone who sees what I see not want to bow in worship to the Mighty One who created this?”
Creation, indeed, witnesses to mankind of the loving God. St Augustine wrote, “Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?”
Unfortunately, some people cannot see or hear God in what is plain. That’s because the god of this age has blinded their eyes. (II Corinthians 4:4) But that shouldn’t stop you from deepening your worship of the Creator by expanding your appreciation for his creation. Take a moment to absorb what St. Basil the Great wrote,
“I want creation to penetrate you with so much admiration that wherever you go, the least plant may bring you the clear remembrance of the Creator. …One blade of grass or one speck of dust is enough to occupy your entire mind in beholding the art with which it has been made. … The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. O God, enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, even our brothers, the animals, to whom Thou gavest the earth as their home in common with us. …We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised the high dominion of man with ruthless cruelty so that the voice of the earth, which should have gone up to thee in song, has been a groan of pain. May we realize that they live, not for us alone, but for themselves and for Thee and that they love the sweetness of life.”
Now if you can, take a walk sometime today, or if you get a clear sky tonight, go out and appreciate the beauty of what God has created. And tell him thanks!
“Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe —
the starry heavens above and the moral law within.”
—Immanuel Kant
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