Seeing Creation

Last night I had the chance to write a blurb for a new book on Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill.  Shaker Village is a wonderful historical treasure located near Lexington, Kentucky.  It is dedicated to preserving the memory and work of the Shakers.  The Shakers were a very interesting religious group.  They are remembered for their architecture, craftsmanship, the practice of celibacy, and their hymns.  Perhaps their most famous hymn is “’Tis a Gift to Be Simple.” 

Just today I came across a Shaker hymn I had not seen before.  It is called “Returning Spring.”  Here are a few of its verses:

The voice of the returning spring

Bids nature wake and rise,

And put her best new garments on,

For she has fresh supplies.

How wondrous are the ways of God!

How bountiful His hand!

We see his love in ev’ry tree,

And broadcast o’er the land.

Then why should we, whose lines have fallen

In such a pleasant place,

Be backward in the praise of Him,

Or e’er fall short of grace.

We ought to leap, and shout, and sing,

Till all the mountains round,

Reverberate the joyful news,

To earth’s remotest bound.

I find this hymn most inspirational.  Here we are reminded that God’s love can be found in every tree and throughout His Creation.  We also find a challenge to sing God’s praises for the bounty He has bestowed on us in nature.  Something tells me that if we really paid attention to the glory of spring that we, too, would “leap, and shout, and sing.”  Look around.  Can you find anything worth singing about?  I bet you can and hope you will!

–Chuck

(These images were taken at Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill.)

Today is Palm Sunday.  In churches all around the world one likely found the presence of palm branches this morning.  Palm trees are common out where Rob lives but not here in Kentucky.  Still, we made sure to have palms available for our service.  Why?  On Palm Sunday we remember Jesus’ dramatic entry into Jerusalem long ago and how the crowds grabbed palm branches to lay on the ground before him in order to show the anticipated Messiah honor and respect.  The display of palm branches was accompanied by shouts of “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

I like the idea that palm branches were used to cushion Jesus’ path as he rode the donkey into Jerusalem.  It seems appropriate.  After all, Creation’s primary purpose is to bring glory to God.  Although there is a sense in which all created things honor God solely by their existence, in this instance the palm branches were collected and used to worship the One who made the heavens and the earth.

 I think we should include elements of nature in our worship more often.  Many churches use flowers to help decorate the sanctuary.   In the southern Appalachians there is a lovely tree that blooms in late March or early April called the Serviceberry.  It usually is pronounced “SAR VIS” but the name goes back to the fact that churches in the mountains would gather branches each spring to brighten their worship “service.”

In a lot of churches there is almost no visible connection between God and nature.  Little emphasis is placed on God as Creator.  I think the writers of both the Old and New Testaments would have trouble with this.  Both Testaments give great honor to the God of Creation.

I’d like to see more churches make proper use of God’s various gifts in Creation as elements of worship.  Doing so could help us remember our vital role as stewards of Creation.  Doing so might very well help lead us into more meaningful worship.

–Chuck

(The image above was taken at Highlands Hammock State Park in Florida.)

Next week I’ll be preaching at one of our community Holy Week services here in Pikeville.  The text I was assigned is John 12:20-36.  In this passage Jesus speaks of his impending death and draws an analogy from nature to do so.  He says in verse 24, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

For many reasons, this is an interesting verse to me.  On the one hand the seed imagery reminds me that all the new growth I’ll see around me this spring came at a cost.  In a sense seeds had to “die” in order for there to be new life.  The cold and darkness of winter were necessary to bring about the bounty of spring. 

On the other hand, the seed comparison reveals to me something of the mystery of Jesus’ death.  Over the centuries there have been many attempts to explain the meaning of the crucifixion–theologians refer to these as theories of the atonement.  Obviously this is not the place to discuss these but I do find it fascinating that in the Fourth Gospel Jesus uses the analogy of the life/death/life cycle of the seed to explain his mission.

In a little over a week Christians will observe Good Friday and pause to remember the death of our Savior.  Perhaps on that day we ought to look around and take note of the new growth spring has brought us and remember Jesus’ words—“unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”  John boldly declares that Jesus willingly gave up his life (died on the cross) so that there might be an abundant harvest.  That harvest includes all those who follow Jesus. 

I’m glad that Good Friday and Easter always come in the spring.  There’s a powerful connection there.  There truly is!

–Chuck

(The seed pod above was photographed at Grayson Lake State Park in northern Kentucky.)

“…but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”  Isaiah 40:31

Spring has sprung!  Yesterday was the first day of spring and where I live it shows.  Flowers have begun to bloom and the trees are starting to bud.  This morning I saw a robin perched on a fence.  When I was growing up I was taught that the redbreast robin was a harbinger of spring.  We have also been having warmer temperatures lately and actually gotten to see a lot of the sun. 

Spring is truly a wonderful time of the year.  Some praise spring because it means the dark, cold, gloomy days of winter are over.  Others delight in spring because of all the new growth and beauty that comes with it.  In both reasons I find spiritual parallels.

Winter truly can be a hard and depressing time.  If it were not for the promise of spring I’m not sure some folks would make it.  In each of our lives come “wintry” periods—times when life gets to be too much for us.  It can be precipitated by a prolonged illness, the death of a loved one, economic woes, a spiritually dry period in our lives, or a host of other things.  It happens to all of us.  Those who are followers of Jesus, however, know that wintry periods do not last forever.  They are always followed by spring.  That is our hope.  Either in this life or in the one to come, we always know that just as spring follows winter better days are coming.  It is this hope which sustains us.

As noted above, spring is the time when the earth seems to go through a period of renewal.  There is an explosion of color and life and light.  This transition occurs every year but we’re still awed when it happens again.  In much the same way there are periods of growth and renewal in the Christian life.  Interestingly enough, these often follow the wintry periods mentioned earlier and when they do come everything looks different to us.  In our world there is more color, life and light—even if this comes in winter.  The Creator who renews the earth on a regular basis apparently also intends for us to have times of spiritual renewal.  This, too, is cause for hope.  It means we don’t have to be, or won’t always be, where we are now.  It means God still has many blessings to bestow upon us.

I hope and pray that these days of spring will be a time of renewal for you. 

–Chuck

(The spring image above was taken at Laurel Lake, near Corbin, Kentucky.)

“Look at the birds…”  (Matthew 6:26)

I’m not a birder.  I like looking at, feeding and photographing birds but I confess I have trouble remembering their names and distinguishing their calls.  That’s why it may surprise you to learn that the two books I’ve been reading this week are about birds.  I just finished reading Stacey O’Brien’s book, Wesley the Owl.  It’s a wonderful story about the barn owl she kept in her home for nineteen years.  The other book is Bernd Heinrich’s The Mind of the Raven.  Heinrich is an expert on ravens and explores the question of raven intelligence in this fascinating book.

Both writers spend considerable time talking about lessons they have learned by studying and observing the birds in their lives.  They believe that we have a lot to learn from birds.  The great Reformer, Martin Luther, apparently thought so too.  Back in the 16^th century he wrote that he felt God “is making the birds our schoolmasters and teachers.”  He added, “We have as many teachers and preachers as there are little birds in the air.”

From Wesley Stacey O’Brien learned “the Way of the Owl.”  She also indicates that this incredible barn owl enabled her to connect with God again.  Bernd believes ravens are very intelligent creatures and that we can learn much from them.

John Stott, a highly respected Christian theologian,  once wrote, “Many Christians have a good doctrine of redemption, but need a better doctrine of creation.  We ought to pursue at least one aspect of natural history.”   Stott himself chose to focus on birds and has published a book called The Birds Our Teachers.  He, too, believes that there is much we can learn from the birds of the air.

I guess I need to start paying more attention to birds.  It would appear to be the wise thing to do.  Wise as an owl…

–Chuck

(The raven image above was taken in Yellowstone last month.  The burrowing owl was photographed in southern Florida.)

Spring is one of my favorite times of year. It is one reason why we moved from Minnesota to Southern California. Spring in Minnesota would really get going about the beginning of May (though there were signs of spring earlier) and be over by June. In California, we have the same sort of spring where plants really get going at the end of January and this continues to about June.

Dogwood is a great part of spring in many parts of the country. This image is of a Western dogwood shot in Yosemite National Park. Spring is going full-bore when the dogwood appear.

Dogwood has some interesting legends about it related to Christ. Dogwood often has four “petals” arranged like a cross. The inside of the flower structure is said to be like a crown of thorns. And some dogwood have small, brown spots toward the center of the petals that remind people of the nail holes of the crucifixion.

One of my favorite sermons was done by a pastor at my parents’ church years ago back in Minnesota. Unfortunately, I do not remember his name. He talked about spring and the crucifixion. He talked about how spring represented a resurgence of life after the “death” of winter (and in Minnesota, that is a pretty powerful image!). He compared this to Christ’s death and resurrection — that Christ died, yet came alive after death so that our lives could be free and full of life. Spring and Easter then represented a wonderful time of rebirth and life after a very difficult time before that.

Sometimes life is not cooperative. Life just “happens” to all of us. We don’t understand everything that is going on, any more than Job did when he complained about his lot to God. Yet, difficult times can be like the winter. We have to trust that spring will come, just like we trust in Christ’s death and resurrection as an expression of God’s love for us. I don’t see winter as a terrible time, but simply a time that has to occur based on how the world is put together, but spring always comes after it. That is an expression of God’s love, too.

–Rob