Seeing Creation

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”  Psalm 150:6

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise Him all creatures here below.” (from  The Doxology)

In the book I wrote about on Sunday, Tending to Eden, the author allowed several leading voices in Creation Care to write small essays.  One of these was written by Tony Campolo and is called “Creation Care and Worship.”  In this brief essay Campolo argues that “we humans are not the only ones called to worship God.” He believes that the Bible teaches that all of God’s Creation was created to offer its Creator worship and praise.  There are certainly numerous biblical passages that back this claim.  Psalm 148, for example, says “Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds…”

If we understand that all things were created to worship God it will help us see Creation in a new light.  Perhaps it will even come to help us appreciate more our fellow worshippers and create within us a desire to learn more about them.  Recognizing that everything on earth was made to worship God will also affect how we treat the earth and its creatures.  We will do all we can to help preserve all species for, as Campolo says, whenever another species is made extinct “we have silenced a special voice of praise to the Almighty.”

In the final paragraph of his essay Campolo says, “To interfere with worship is blasphemy.  Thus, the obliteration of the environment has blasphemous dimensions to it.  Considering what we have done to nature, we need to repent, because we have hindered nature’s glorification of the God who created all things in heaven and on earth to praise his name.”

We can and should avoid blasphemy by being good stewards of God’s Creation and by making sure that we add our own voice in offering praise to God.  When all of Creation offers its praise to God what a beautiful song it must be!

–Chuck

(This cardinal and pika I photographed are just two examples of  those who join us in praising God.)

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has certainly gotten the nation’s attention.  It’s gotten mine too.  I can’t imagine what it must be like for the people down along the coast.  Nor can I imagine what it must be like for the wildlife affected by this catastrophe.  I try to keep up with the news on the spill but have discovered I can’t watch or read much without getting depressed.  The situation is horrible!

I’ve tried to think about how God sees this disaster.  Because people are hurting I know God hurts too.  The same thing goes for the wildlife.  An entire ecosystem God created is threatened.  This has to bring Him grief.  God has asked us to be stewards of His Creation, not destroyers.

One of the things that sustain Christians in difficult times is the hope of heaven.  The Bible, however, also speaks of a “new earth” to come (Rev. 21:1).   I’m not sure what this new earth will look like or exactly how it fits into God’s scheme of things but it is encouraging to know that there’s hope for the earth too.  The apostle Paul spoke of this hope in Romans 8.  Here he wrote: “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”   Paul goes on to speak of how Creation “groans” in its present condition. 

For some this will be a new way of “seeing Creation.”  It is, however, reality.  Due to our sin Creation suffers.  Due to the way that we have treated the earth, it needs liberation.  One day God will see to it that His Creation is “liberated from its bondage to decay.”  In the meantime, it’s up to us to do everything we can to care for the earth and try to prevent further catastrophes like the one we’re seeing now in the Gulf of Mexico.  For God’s sake, for Creation’s sake, and for our own sake, we must do this!

–Chuck

(The image of the Gulf of Mexico shown above was taken in Florida.  Will it soon be covered with oil?)

“How many are your works, O Lord!  In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”  Psalm 104:24

 According to Philip Yancey, Flannery O’Connor once wrote an article about her peacocks and the reactions they would get as they unfurled their feathers.  One truck driver yelled, “Get a load of that!” and braked to a halt.  Most people would simply fall silent.  O’Connor’s favorite response came from an old black woman who simply cried, “Amen! Amen!”

I can certainly relate to this story.  This past Friday I took a DVD containing some of my “slide shows” over to one of my home bound members.  Charlotte is in her late eighties and under hospice care.  She is an elder at our church and considered a “saint” by just about everyone.  As we sat together in her bedroom and watched the programs on her television Charlotte kept raising her hands into the air and saying, “Hallelujah” and “Thank you, Lord.”  She had the sweetest expression on her face.

I had a feeling Charlotte would enjoy the programs.  She loves God’s Creation and especially all the creatures He has made.  Every day she feeds over seventy ducks.  She calls them her “babies” and has given many of them names.  With great pride she told me Friday she now has eighteen baby ducks coming up to her back porch.  She is also delighted that a groundhog (named “Homer”) is also coming up to finish up all the leftovers.  When she talks about animals her sentences are almost always prefaced by the words, “Ain’t it miraculous…”

Charlotte Mann has no trouble seeing God in His Creation.  For her all that God has made bears witness to His love and power.  My heart was sincerely touched as I watched Charlotte offer God praise as she watched my slide shows.  I’m not sure which one of us got the greater blessing.  I just wish more people were like Charlotte—not afraid to offer God worship and praise for the work of His hands.  He truly is worthy of all the praise we can give Him!  Just ask Charlotte…

–Chuck

(Pictured above are two of God’s wonderful creatures I’ve been privileged to photograph–a baby eastern cottontail and a western chipmunk.)

In his most recent posting Rob talked about the intensive search we made for a desert tortoise while we were in Mojave National Preserve earlier this month.  For three days we looked for this elusive creature.  As Rob noted, our diligence paid off and the last day we were in the park we finally found a tortoise.  I was thrilled to get to see and photograph this iconic reptile.

This past Saturday I was working in my office at the church when two boys entered and showed me the box turtle they had just found.  They wondered if I might like to photograph it.  Needless to say, I did.  We took the turtle outside and I took several images of it before giving it back to the boys.  You can see photos of both turtles here—the desert tortoise that took days to find and the box turtle that was basically laid in my lap. 

Over the years I have discovered that seeing God in Creation is similar to my experience with these two turtles.  Sometimes it is quite easy to find God in His handiwork; at other times it requires time, effort and much searching.  The same thing can be said of my search for God in other areas.

I have no doubt that God wants to reveal Himself to us.  He truly loves us and wants us to know Him and love Him too.  He made Himself known most fully through the sending of His Son long ago but He continues to reveal Himself through the Scriptures and through Creation.  At times He makes it easy for us.  There’s no way we can miss His presence.  At other times I think He makes us work a bit to see how much we really want to see Him.

Through the prophet Jeremiah God said, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (29:13)  Sometimes the reason we fail to see God in His Creation is that we’re not looking hard enough.  Perhaps we’re expecting God to do all the work.  God is certainly out there waiting to be found but there are times when we must do our part too.

–Chuck

“I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.”            John 11:25

Several years ago I was reading a copy of Nature magazine when I was shocked to discover an article praising the virtues of Blue Jays.  As a child I had been taught that Blue Jays were bad because they robbed other birds’ nests.  All the neighborhood kids knew that they were not supposed to shoot birds with their BB guns but that Blue Jays were fair game.  So when I read in the article how valuable Blue Jays are in distributing seeds and regenerating forests I had to rethink my childhood notions.

Later today I will drive over to Middlesboro, Kentucky, to speak at the funeral of a dear friend.  Even though she was 92 years old it still hurts knowing that she is no longer here.  Over the years death has robbed me of a lot of my loved ones.  When I was younger I had a horrible attitude toward death.  As far as I was concerned, there was nothing good about it.  In time, however, I came to see things differently.  Just as I came to see the good in the Blue Jay I came to understand that death is not all bad.

My Christian faith teaches me that contrary to the way it might seem, death is not the end.  For children of God death is in many ways just the beginning.  It is an entranceway to a far better place. 

There is much in nature that reminds us of the inevitability of death.  You see it everywhere.  I also happen to believe that God has placed signs in nature to remind us and give us hope that this life is not all that there is.  The new life that returns each spring following the cold dark winter is one such sign. 

These days whenever I see a Blue Jay I remember how something I once saw as bad is actually good.  When I visit the cemetery this afternoon, I’ll remember the same thing.

–Chuck

(I took the image of this Blue Jay in my yard this past winter.)

As Chuck noted, we were in the Mojave Desert last week. We visited the very little visited and huge park, the Mojave National Preserve. This is a stunning location that really shows off the desert. Distances are big as you drive through the area with rocky mountains all around you. You can see the “bones” of the earth, the geological structure of our planet. And for me, it is truly an awe – some place that inspires awe about God’s creation. I could go on and on about the amazing desert here and how I discovered much to love about a so-called “barren” desert. The Mojave is only barren in our human-centered eyes — God might smile at such a description since the place is filled with life. And we were there during a peak blooming time. You can see some of this on my photo blog at photodigitary.com.

But what turned out to be quite interesting was our search for the desert tortoise. Chuck was determined to photograph one of these creatures. It is an endangered species and also the “mascot” of sorts for the Preserve as you see signs about it everywhere, including warnings to watch out for tortoises on the road.

We kept our eyes ever vigilant for a “turtle”, but after three days, no tortoises had been found. On the last day we were in the Preserve, we decided to go through the park one more time on a road we had been on earlier but had not had much time to explore for photography. We stopped at an area filled with signs of old volcanic action and lots of blooming creosote bushes … but no tortoises.

Finally, going down a very long incline, Chuck spotted a tortoise on the side of the road. Chuck was so excited and immediately got out and started photographing the animal. I was a little concerned for his life since he was so close to the road, but on the other hand, this was not exactly a busy road (we saw three vehicles go by in the time we were by the tortoise and two of them were park vehicles).

So why care so much about a tortoise? Since this was an important animal for the area and the Preserve, Chuck wanted to see and photograph it. But consider that the tortoise is not beautiful, it looks like a textured rock. It offers no economic value to people, no food, nothing.

Now there is value in the tortoise as a representative of the Mojave Desert that people can see and relate to. The tortoise definitely gave us a connection to this environment that is different than seeing and photographing cactus.

I believe that the point is that if God created the world and saw that it was good (Genesis 1:12), then there needs to be no other justification of the value of a desert tortoise. If God saw that it was good, who are we to question its value and place on earth? Yet that is exactly what a lot of people do. “We can’t hold up development because of some stupid turtle.” “People’s jobs are more important than wildlife.” But are they? Isn’t that putting a judgement on God’s work? Yes, our jobs and our livelihoods are important, but they are temporary compared to God’s creation.

Searching for a tortoise is also searching for God’s creation and finding value in what the Lord has made.

– Rob

Today was Earth Stewardship Sunday in my denomination.  In our service this morning we sang songs related to Creation and I preached a message emphasizing the importance of being good stewards of Creation.  In my message I used a quotation from Thomas Aquinas that I’d like to share with you.  Speaking of the created order Aquinas said God “brought these things into being in order that His goodness might be communicated to creatures and be represented by them; and because His goodness could not be adequately represented by one creature alone the whole universe participates in the divine goodness more perfectly and represents it better than any single creature.”

I find this line of thought fascinating.  According to Aquinas, one reason we find such a variety in Creation is because it takes all that God has made to help us understand His divine goodness.  This gives value to everything that exists.  It also creates a mandate that we do everything we can to preserve all that God has made.  When we destroy Creation or cause plant and animal species to go extinct we actually eliminate ways we might have experienced God’s goodness otherwise.

Meister Eckhart once said “every creature is a word of God and a book about God.”  I believe this is true, even if I can’t tell you just what the baby possum I photographed last week (see above) says about the Creator.   Part of me wants to say it shows us that God has a sense of humor but really all I have to do is look in the mirror to be reminded of that.  I suspect if I just took the time to study possums, or spend more time with them, I could discern divine truths.  But that’s the problem, isn’t it?  It takes time and effort.  How many of us are willing to take the time to try and figure such things out?  If we could somehow remember that experiencing a greater comprehension of God’s goodness is at stake perhaps we would be more willing to put forth the effort.

God’s goodness is waiting to be seen in His Creation.  Are you looking?

–Chuck

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.”  Matthew 28:6

Today is Easter Sunday, undoubtedly the most important day in the Christian year.  On this day Christians worldwide celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  This past Friday was Good Friday.  On that day we paused to remember Jesus’ death on the cross.   The cross, of course, has pretty much become the universal symbol of Christianity.  It would seem to me that the empty tomb would be a better symbol but I guess it presents a bigger challenge graphically.

There is, however, a symbol of the resurrection taken from nature that is popular with some.  It is the butterfly.  For many years people have marveled at how the lowly caterpillar creates a cocoon and then emerges as a beautiful butterfly.  In this metamorphosis one can easily find parallels to Jesus’ Passion.  The cocoon appears to be a tomb for the caterpillar; it would seem that the caterpillar no longer exists.  But then the cocoon splits and out comes the butterfly full of life.

I realize that this is not a perfect parallel but I still like the symbolism.  Even if the caterpillar doesn’t really die there is nonetheless a wonderful transformation that takes place.  Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection there is also a wonderful transformation available for those who place their faith in Christ.  That transformation is just as dramatic as the one where the caterpillar turns into a butterfly!

For me Easter is good news.  Because of Jesus’ resurrection we know that sin and death do not have the final word.  Because of the empty tomb we know that there is a power greater than these; that power is God’s love.  It is this love I think about whenever I see a beautiful butterfly.  It is this love I give thanks for today and every other day.  Happy Easter!

–Chuck

(The butterfly image above was taken at Shenandoah National Park.)

“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.)

“…you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”  Revelation 4:11

One of the creatures I most enjoyed photographing earlier this month in Yellowstone was coyotes.  Maybe this is because I’m a “dog lover.”  Coyotes truly are beautiful creatures!  At the same time, they are one of the most hated animals in America.  Over the years they have been ruthlessly hunted, poisoned and maligned.  

It is true that from time to time coyotes kill some farmer’s sheep or somebody’s pet, but they still play a vital role in our ecological system.  If nothing else, they are an essential asset when it comes to rodent control.  Native Americans, however, have insisted for over 10,000 years that coyotes have much to teach us.  Perhaps they do.

One of the foremost coyote researchers is Bob Crabtree.  He notes, “The similarities between the social and breeding systems of the coyote and humans are striking.  Coyotes like humans, attempt to mate for life, are territorial, and build social units consisting of family members with parents, brothers and sisters helping to raise the young.”  Coyotes are very intelligent animals and have certainly proven themselves to be survivors.  Despite many attempts to eliminate them (or perhaps because of such attempts) their range has expanded dramatically in the past century.

In the book Track of the Coyote, Tom Skeele is quoted as saying “I think the future of predator control is dependent largely upon our ability to get away from looking at wildlife as being either good or bad but simply to respect its higher purpose, and I don’t mean its purpose for humans.”  I concur.

What gives us the right to determine whether an animal is good or bad?  Is its value solely dependent on whether we as humans benefit from its presence?  The Bible is clear in its teaching that God made all creatures and considers them good.  If God declares all animals “good,” who are we to say otherwise? 

I, for one, am thankful to live in a world that contains coyotes.  I am, in fact, grateful for all of God’s creatures.  Each and every one of them, coyotes included, deserve our respect.  And since each and every one bears the impress of its Creator, they also deserve our careful attention.

–Chuck