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.
In Eugene Peterson’s amazing translation/paraphrase of the Bible, called The Message, Matthew 6:26 reads “Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count for more to him than birds.” Ken Gire once wrote a wonderful response to this. He said: “’Careless in the care of God.’ And why shouldn’t they be? For their food, He provides insects in the air, seeds on the ground. For their search for food, He provides eyes that are keen, wings that are swift. For their drinking, He provides poolings of rainwater. For their bathing, He provides puddles. For their survival, He provides migratory instincts to take them to warmer climates. For their flight, He provides bones that are porous and lightweight. For their warmth, He provides feathers. For their dryness, He provides a water-resistant coating. For their rest, He provides warm updrafts so they can glide through the air. For their journey, He provides the company of other travelers. For their return, He provides the companionship of a mate. For their safety, He provides a perch in branches far from the reach of predators. For their nest, He provides twigs. And for every newborn beak, He provides enough worms so that they can grow up to leave the nest and continue the cycle of life. It’s no wonder they’re so free from the cares of this world. The wonder is, if we count more to Him than birds, why aren’t we?”
When I read these words earlier this morning I have to admit I was convicted. Lately I’ve been worried about a lot of things and the word “careless” would definitely not describe me at this point in my life. Jesus’ instructions to “look at the birds” was one of his ways of trying to get his followers not to worry so much. He encouraged them to look around and pay close attention to the birds and the wildflowers that grew nearby. Both, he said, serve as reminders that God takes care of them and provides what they need. Jesus then informed these followers that God cares even more for them and they shouldn’t worry, for if God meets the needs of the birds and flowers God will assuredly meet their needs as well.
I love the way Ken Gire lays out for us the many ways God provides for the birds. He lists so many ways and I’m sure others could be added to his list. Surely the recognition that God goes out of His way to care for the birds ought to be enough to make us pause when anxious thoughts come our way. Hopefully it will help me worry a whole lot less and move me to the point where I am “careless in the care of God.”
–Chuck
(I took the pictures shown above at Henderson Sloughs Wildlife Management Area.)
