Seeing Creation

If you’re a longtime reader of this blog you know I am a big fan of Mary Oliver’s poetry. Whenever she publishes a new book I find cause for celebration.  Last week I celebrated the release of her newest collection of poems, Felicity.  You can easily read through this book in one sitting but I wouldn’t suggest that.  Oliver’s poems are to be savored and contemplated.  I especially like the ones where her love for nature and God merge.

One of the poems in this new collection is called “Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way.” It begins, “If you’re John Muir you want trees to live among. If you’re Emily, a garden will do.  Try to find the right place for yourself.  If you can’t find it, at least dream of it.”  I like the idea of trying to find “the right place” for you.  Muir did, Emily Dickenson did, and so can you and I.  It’s interesting how different people are drawn to various landscapes or things.  We do not all connect to the same thing but it seems as though we all connect to something in the natural world.  How could we not?  I connect to a lot of things.  I no longer live near mountains but I will always love them.  I will visit them when I can.  And when I can’t, I can always dream.  Thankfully, I also find a connection with trees and there are lots of wonderful trees in my area, some right outside my door.  These trees offer me a special connection with God’s Creation.  What is your right place?

Later in this poem Oliver writes “God, or the gods, are invisible, quite understandable. But holiness is visible, entirely.”  Here the poet makes a wise observation.  We are not able to see God with our eyes; for many reasons that is just not possible.  Still, we are able to see a reflection of the divine, God’s holiness, in a variety of places.  Certainly it can be seen in some special people from time to time but God’s holiness is always evident in the Creation. “In the beginning” a holy God spoke the world into existence and declared it good (Genesis 1).  That world, the parts not marred by humankind, is still good and bears witness daily to the holiness of its Maker.  For me, holiness is most readily seen in God’s handiwork.  It is through God’s Creation that I can visibly see the invisible God’s holiness on a regular basis.

In many parts of the country this is the peak season for fall foliage. I hope you will make a special effort to take a close look at and enjoy the delightful colors of autumn.  As you do so, make sure to offer a word of thanks to the Creator for this annual display of divine holiness.  Wherever you happen to be, make it the “right place” to commune with God.

–Chuck

(I took the pictures shown above on my recent trip to central California.)

It’s a beautiful day here in eastern Kentucky.  When I took my dog out a few minutes ago the sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing and I could see some trees starting to bud.  I realize that Spring has not technically arrived yet but it’s clear it will soon be here.  As I was walking outside the phrase “hope springs eternal” crossed my mind for some reason.   I couldn’t recall where these words came from so I looked it up.  They were spoken by Alexander Pope in his Essays on Man: “Hope springs eternal in the human breast, man never is, but always to be blest.”

When I found the source I also came across several other wonderful quotations that speak of hope.  Emily Dickenson wrote “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tunes without the words and never stops at all.”  A more contemporary writer, Anne Lamott, writes “Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.”  Finally, Charles L. Allen wrote “When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God.”

Hope is a very important part of our lives.  It has been said that humans can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only one second without hope.  It is literally true; people do not survive long without hope.

In recent days some things have happened that have gotten me down.  I have been both discouraged and frustrated.  I don’t like being in this state but things happen and this is part of life.  Thankfully, I have learned from God’s “two books,” the book of Creation and the book we call the Bible, that bad times don’t last forever.  Most of the trees in my area are bare right now but soon all will be green.  Nature has many reminders that life goes on; things do not remain the same.  The Bible, likewise, is filled with passages that remind us that with God in our life there are no hopeless situations and that one way or another a better day truly does lie ahead.  The apostle Paul went so far as to say “everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)

Later in Romans 15 Paul shared a blessing with the church at Rome.  He said, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (v. 13)  That is my prayer for you today as well.  In Creation and the Scriptures I have come to see that Alexander Pope is right, hope really does “spring eternal.”

–Chuck

(I took the top picture one spring at Bernheim Forest in central Kentucky.  I took the image of the nuthatch in my yard when I lived in Middlesboro, Kentucky.)

A few weeks ago I ran into someone I know who has been going through a very difficult time.  A lot of things have gone wrong in his life and it was obvious that he was very discouraged.  Despite this, he seemed to have a resolve to not let his troubles get the best of him.  At one point in our conversation he spoke of a poem that had given him a great deal of inspiration.  He said the poem is called “Not in Vain” and that the author was Emily Dickenson.  I told him I wasn’t familiar with it but that I’d look it up.  Later I did and in case you are not familiar with it either, this is how it reads: “If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain: If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.”

I can certainly see how this beautiful poem brought encouragement and inspiration to the person I spoke to.  When things in our life do not work out as we planned we are tempted to conclude that our lives have been lived in vain.  When, however, we look at the bigger picture, we will see that if in this life we are able to help another person, or even another creature, our lives have not been lived in vain at all.

I try to live my life in service to others.  Being a minister it’s what I do for a living, but being a servant to others is far than just a job.  I am a Christian and thus a follower of the one who said he came “not to be served but to serve.”  I also happen to believe that serving others should include caring for animals.  That’s why I support various wildlife organizations, feed the birds, own a dog, and send lots of letters to my congressmen concerning legislation effecting wildlife.  These are all little things but they make a difference.  They also add meaning to my life.

Like the person who told me about the poem, I have no intention of my life being lived in vain.  In every way I can I plan to make it count.  I want to help those in need, be they human or animal.  I hope you do as well.

–Chuck

(I photographed the robin above recently in my yard.)