Majestic. That’s the word my wife, Bonita, kept using on our recent cruise to Alaska to describe what we were seeing. This adjective means “having or exhibiting majesty.” The Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines majesty as “greatness or splendor of quality or character.” Roget’s Thesaurus offers as synonyms for “majestic” the words “grand” or “exalted.” That being the case, I will concur with Bonita that majestic was indeed the appropriate word to describe what we were seeing. And just what did we see? We saw awesome glaciers cutting their way through mountains. We saw humpback whales feeding in the icy waters around us. We saw gorgeous sunsets. We saw sea otters, harbor seals, sea lions, grizzly bears and bald eagles. We saw lovely fjords carved by glaciers. And, yes, it was all majestic–exalted and grand. This was my eighth trip to Alaska so I wasn’t surprised by what I saw. In fact, I had seen all the things mentioned above before in various places throughout the state. Still, the sights remained overwhelming. There is just something special, almost holy, about our 49th state. It truly is majestic!
Even more worthy of the adjective “majestic” is the One who created all the sights we saw. The Creator of Alaska and the rest of the world deserves the title majestic more than anyone or anything else. Twice in Psalm 8 David declares, “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (vs. 1, 9) In Psalm 111 the Psalmist says “Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds…” (vs. 2-3) In the Song of Moses recorded in Exodus 15 the question is raised, “Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you–majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” (v. 11) In 2 Peter 1:17 God’s divine glory is described as being “Majestic.” God’s name, deeds, holiness and glory are all described as majestic.
That God would be associated with the word “majestic” should not surprise anyone. God is, after all, God. If we can use the word majestic to describe what God has made then surely the One who fashioned the natural world deserves to receive the same exaltation. When we consider all that God has done through Christ, this becomes even more true.
I hope as a result of your experiences with God you can say with the Psalmist, “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.” God’s Creation and mighty acts are all meant to lead us to exalt God’s holy name. They call us to worship the Creator and Redeemer of the world. May we all heed that call and lift up the majestic name of the Lord.
–Chuck
*This post originally appeared in 2017. Bonita and I just got back from another Alaskan cruise and it seemed like the ideal one to share during my summer repeat series.
I recently came upon a prayer found in the Book of Common Prayer that should be of interest to those who are concerned about being good stewards of Creation. It is a short prayer that might be said on a regular basis. It reads, “Almighty God, in giving us dominion over things on earth, you made us fellowship workers in your creation. Give us wisdom and reverence so to use the resources of nature, that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
There are several things I like about this prayer. One of the great things about it is that it reminds us of the true meaning of the word “dominion.” The biblical call found in Genesis 1:28 for humans to have dominion over the earth has certainly been misunderstood by many over the centuries. This misunderstanding has led to the horrible abuse of God’s Creation in a lot of instances. In this prayer we catch a glimpse of the true meaning of dominion; it involves our being “fellowship workers” in God’s Creation. Our calling is to work with and in Creation for its good. When we do this together the world becomes a better place for us and for those who will come after us.
Another thing I like about this prayer is the recognition that we need “wisdom and reverence” to do what we are supposed to do. We need wisdom because it is not always clear exactly what we should do or how. We are called to be caretakers of God’s Creation but at times we must seek the Creator’s help in knowing how best to take care of what He has made. We must also do our work with an attitude of reverence. We revere the One who has called us to serve in His Garden and we must also show reverence for the work of God’s hands. If we fail to do either of these things we will likely be unsuccessful in our fundamental calling to tend to the earth. Reverence for both God and Creation are essential. This prayer helps us to remember this.
Finally, I like this prayer because it serves as a reminder that our actions have consequences. If we do not seek God’s wisdom and live in reverence of the Creator and the Creation we may very well abuse the earth’s resources. We will be more likely to cause harm where we are supposed to bring help and healing. This abuse and harm, as we have clearly learned, comes back to bite us. The earth alone does not suffer when we abuse it, so do we. Furthermore, it is not just we who live today that are affected by this abuse but also those who shall follow us. As “fellowship workers” we have to be concerned about more than just ourselves. We must tend to the earth in such a way that there will be plenty of resources left for the generations yet to come–resources that will not only sustain and nurture them but lead them to worship and praise the Giver of all good gifts.
For a short prayer this gem from the Book of Common Prayer has a lot of important reminders for us. For that reason I encourage you to remember it and to use it on a regular basis as part of your prayer regimen. It can’t hurt and it has the potential to do a world of good.
In Letters to a Young Poet Rainer Maria Rilke says “we must embrace struggle.” He writes this after noting that most people seek to resolve everything “the easy way.” When I read this a few days ago I had to admit I have a tendency to want to resolve things the easy way. I am certainly not one prone to embrace struggle. Rilke then goes on to say, “Everything in nature grows and struggles in its own way, establishing its own identity, insisting on it at all cost, against all resistance. We can be sure of very little, but the need to court struggle is a surety that will not leave us.”
Since reading these words I’ve given them a good bit of thought. Rilke has a point. When you look at nature you see that there is a sense in which everything “grows and struggles in its own way.” This struggle in many instances is not something bad at all but necessary. For example, I remember hearing about a person who came across a cocoon where a butterfly was in the process of emerging. Seeing that it was quite a struggle for the creature this person assisted the butterfly by cutting the cocoon. The butterfly was freed but soon died. What this good intentioned person did not realize is that the struggle to free itself from the cocoon is a necessary part of the process. It is what strengthens the wings so that the butterfly can fly. I guess you could say the butterfly’s struggle is a prelude to flight.
As I think back over my own life I cannot help but see that I, too, have found strength through life’s struggles. I can’t say I enjoy struggle but my life would be very different today had I been able to escape all the hard times or struggles that have come my way. It’s probably only human that we try to avoid struggles when we can but no one can escape struggle entirely. Nor should we want to. What I now see is that struggle is necessary for the building of character. If we do not experience struggles in life we, like the butterfly, cannot grow nor can we fly. I think that’s what Rilke was trying to say in his letter. I also feel it is the message sounded in the first chapter of the Book of James. Here we read: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (vs. 2-4)
I’m not sure how quick I will be to embrace struggle in the future but both of God’s books—Scripture and Creation—teach me that it is a wise thing to do. If I want to grow and fly I really have no choice. Neither do you.
–Chuck
*This post originally appeared in September of 2011.
Toward the end of Psalm 104, having spent thirty verses praising God’s greatness made manifest in Creation, the Psalmist says in verse 31: “May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works…” What God has created is worth an eternity of praise! It is the Psalmist’s hope that God can “rejoice in His works.”
We know that when God created the earth that following each day God paused and “saw that it was good.” Like an artist (or photographer) standing before his or her work, God looked upon what He had made and took delight in it. In the Psalmist’s words here he seems to be hoping that this delight will be ongoing, that God would always be able to take delight in what He had made. Did the Psalmist have reason for concern?
I don’t know if he did then or not but as we observe God’s Creation now there does, in fact, seem to be reason for concern. We have polluted the skies and water that once were clean. We have destroyed mountains and made new ones piled high with waste. We have hunted some of God’s creatures into extinction or destroyed their habitat to the point that they can no longer survive. We have poisoned the land and cut down the majority of the earth’s forests. If present day scientists are correct we have even altered the environment to the point where the climate is being changed in a detrimental fashion.
Is God still able to rejoice in His works? My guess is that God still does find much to delight in (just as we do) but I also cannot help but feel that God must experience some degree of sadness at the current state of the world. That which God created “good” has been marred. Out of love for God we should all seek to do everything we can to preserve and restore God’s Creation. It should be our concern, as it was the Psalmist’s, that “the glory of the Lord endure forever” and that God “rejoice in His works” always.
I have been posting blogs at Seeing Creation for thirteen years. During that time I have written well over 600 entries related to nature and spirituality. It has been a labor of love. But I have a confession to make; in recent months I have found myself struggling to find something new to say. I started by posting blogs twice a week. Eventually that changed to once a week. For quite some time, however, it has been only once a month. I am frustrated by my inability to come up with new material and have thought about shutting down the Seeing Creation page. I will probably do that eventually but I thought for a little while I would share with you some of my early posts. Today I share with you one called “Like a Tree Planted by Water” that was originally posted May 29, 2009. It was one of my first attempts at blogging. In the coming weeks I will share with you some of my favorites from the past. I hope you won’t mind.
“He is like a tree planted by streams of water…” (Psalm 1:3)
I have just returned from a photo trip to California that included stops at Yosemite National Park, Muir Woods, Point Reyes National Seashore and Santa Monica National Recreation Area. One reason I enjoy visiting other parts of the country is that I get to see trees we do not find here in the southern Appalachians where I live. Majestic redwoods, ponderosa pines, Pacific dogwoods — even a sequoia planted by John Muir himself–brought great delight to my soul.
While on this trip I started reading Eugene Peterson’s book, Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer. Commenting on Psalm 1 he writes,
“Comprehension of the invisible begins in the visible. Praying to God begins by looking at a tree. The deepest relationship of which we are capable has its origin in the everyday experience of taking a good look at what is in everybody’s backyard. We are not launched into the life of prayer by making ourselves more heavenly, but by immersing ourselves in the earthy; not by formulating abstractions such as goodness, beauty, or even God, but by attending to trees and tree toads, mountains and mosquitoes.”
I think Peterson is on to something here. Contemplating the natural world can, in fact, move us—even compel us—to pray. Psalm 19 begins with the words, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” The same psalm ends with the Psalmist praying “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
I suggest that it’s not just “the heavens” but all of Creation that declares the glory of God and that as we begin “seeing Creation” we will join the Psalmist in offering our prayers to God.
During my retirement I have been rereading some of my textbooks from seminary. Many of these are over forty years old! Currently I’m reading The Christian Doctrine of God by Emil Brunner. In this classic work Brunner highlights the self-revelation of God and emphasizes God’s revelation of Godself as holy and love. Both aspects of God’s nature must be maintained in order to have a significant grasp of who God is. Brunner says “love is the very nature of God.”“Love is the self-giving God: love is the free and generous grace of the One who is Holy Lord.” Elsewhere he adds, “Only now do we understand why love and revelation belong to one another. Love is the movement which goes-out-of-oneself, which stoops down to that which is below: it is the self-giving, the self-communication of God—and it is this which is His revelation. The idea of self-communication gathers up into one the two elements love and revelation.”
Reading Brunner’s words has caused me to give further thought to God’s self-communication through nature. I firmly believe that God has used that which God created to reveal numerous truths to us. These truths are given in love and continuously point us back to the Source of this love—a God who is Holy Love. So many times nature has forced me to recognize the holiness of God. How can we not be struck by God’s holiness or otherness when we contemplate the sun, moon, and stars? The Psalmist wrote “The heavens declare the glory of God.” (Psalm 19:1) How can we not sense God’s holiness when we visit the ocean, mountains, or desert? I find myself standing in awe of God in natural settings more than any other place. I suspect many of you do too.
Yes, Creation points me to the holiness of God over and over again, but it also serves as a perpetual reminder of God’s infinite love. Creation may be viewed as an incredible gift God has lavished upon us out of love. It is a precious gift for many reasons. In Creation we find many of our physical, spiritual, mental and emotional needs met. In Creation we discover a beauty that both humbles and inspires us. For those with eyes to see, all around us is the evidence of God’s love. The fact that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) here on earth reveals the full measure of God’s love for both the world and us. Recognizing the value of this gift of love should move us to pay more attention to God’s overtures of love and affection. It should also move us to cherish, protect, and preserve this amazing gift.
Now that spring has arrived I hope we will all get outside more and with the eyes of faith contemplate the wonders and glory of God’s handiwork. As we do so, let us offer our praise and thanksgiving to the One who has been revealed to us as Holy Love.
