Last week God drew my attention to the beauty in nature – in order to draw my attention back to God. What prompted all this mental and spiritual activity? It was the following passage in the devotional book Jesus Calling:
My world is filled with beautiful things; they are meant to be pointers to Me, reminders of My abiding Presence. The earth still declares My Glory to those who have eyes that see and ears that hear.”
[Jesus Calling, © 2004 by Sarah Young, Thomas Nelson Publishers, p. 165]
The beautiful things we see in nature “are meant to be pointers to Me…”
Sometimes it works. When I see a goldfinch perched on top of a thistle on the roadside, or when I look at a rose bush completely covered with bright pink roses, sometimes I think, God really does beautiful handiwork. Many song writers have had the same thought. That’s why they have written songs like:
- For the Beauty of the Earth
- Morning Has Broken
- All Things Bright and Beautiful
- This Is My Father’s World
- How Great Thou Art
- His Eye Is on the Sparrow
- In the Garden
- Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee
- He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
- Majesty, Worship His Majesty
And hundreds more. When we see, think and sing about all the beautiful things God has created, we get a glimpse of God. “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.” [Psalms 19:1 NRSV]
God has filled the world with beautiful things – from bright goldfinches flitting along the roadside to red-winged blackbirds cawing to each other in the wetlands; from bright orange Asian lilies to the sweet fragrance of mock orange blossoms. Now is just about the easiest time of the year to think about the beauty of God’s creation.
Next Sunday afternoon, June 17, everyone is invited to Whispering Winds for a hymn sing. We’ll sing whatever hymns you want to sing – but I’ll “prime the pump” with songs about the beauty of God’s creation – like the songs listed above. We’ll gather together in the living room and sun room about 3:00 and sing for a couple hours, with breaks for homemade cookies and lemonade or iced tea as needed. Even though we’ll start our hymn sing with hymns about the beauty of God’s creation, come prepared to request your favorite hymns whatever they are. We have plenty of songbooks, and if we have the music, we’ll sing whatever songs you request.
The day of the hymn sing is Father’s Day. My dad would have loved coming to this hymn sing. His favorite part of going to church was singing together with everyone. He usually slept through the rest of the Sunday morning service, but he was always wide awake to sing the hymns. He especially liked “Nearer, My God, to Thee.” I can still hear his voice singing it loud and clear, even if he had just come out of a deep sleep.
If you’re planning to join us Sunday, please call (608-212-6197) or email me (MarianKorth@Gmail.com) so I have an idea how many batches of cookies to bake. But if you decide at the last minute to just show up, that’s fine, too. We’ll be delighted to see you.
Whispering Winds Blog 
2 responses to “The Beauty of Nature – Does it Remind You of God?”
I enjoy diving into God’s creation multiple times each week, including walks in the woods or praries, paddling trips on local rivers or hiking through the hills of the Kettle Morraine Forest. These places ARE where I encounter God in all of his glory. Even when I walk a path for the 100th time, I still find something new, something magnificent, something that makes me breathe deeply and know the breath of the Spirit breathes with me. Thank you for your blog today.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Shannon. Nature really is filled with “pointers back to God.”