Seeing Creation

Since I am now retired and no longer serving a church, I’ve been looking for new ways I might be able to offer a positive witness of my faith to others.  One new way I’ve discovered is creating and sharing memes on social media.  Doing so affords me the opportunity to combine my love for God, Creation and photography.  I have enjoyed putting Scripture passages or inspirational words onto pictures I have taken over the years.  These memes are shared on three different Facebook pages.  I share them on my own Facebook page.  I also share them on R120’s Facebook page.  R120 is a non-profit organization I support.  Its name comes from Romans 1:20 which reminds us of the universal witness of Creation to God’s “eternal power and divine nature.”  I have also recently started a SeeingCreation Facebook page that features these memes.  If you are on Facebook and have not liked one of these three pages I hope you will do so.

I have found so much joy in creating memes that I would encourage you to find your own unique way of sharing your faith.  Many of you have hobbies that can certainly be used for God’s glory.  It may be poetry, music, photography, painting, quilting, pottery, cross-stitching, crocheting, calligraphy, baking, or any number of other artistic expressions.  The arts have been used as expressions of worship and faith from the very beginning.  The Creator God apparently delights in our own creativeness.  I would even dare say that the Creator God is reflected in our own creativeness.  So give it a try.  Find some way to offer a positive witness through the gifts God has given you.

Below you will find a few of the memes I’ve already posted.  I hope you like them.  If you have suggestions for verses or inspirational sayings you’d like to see used in one of my memes, let me know.

–Chuck

Many years ago while in seminary I took a class called The Classics of Christian Devotion.  It turned out to be one of my favorite classes of my entire graduate school experience.  Over the course of the semester the professor, Glenn Hinson, introduced us to many of the true “classics” of Christian literature.  We read and studied works by people like Augustine, Francis of Assisi, Thomas a’ Kempis, William Law, John Bunyan, Thomas Merton and Thomas Kelly.  One of the books that inspired me the most was Brother Lawrence’s The Practice of the presence of God.  Brother Lawrence was a seventeenth century monk who earnestly desired an intimate relationship with God and developed a method whereby he disciplined himself to “practice” being aware of God’s presence every possible moment.  He said this eventually enabled him to feel God’s presence just as keenly while he was washing dishes in the monastery as when he shared Holy Communion.

Earlier today I learned something I did not know about Brother Lawrence.  My friend Michael Boone shared on his Facebook page “R120” a passage from the book 131 Christians Everyone Should Know that tells how a tree played an instrumental role in Brother Lawrence’s spiritual development:  “In the deep of winter, Herman (his name before he was a monk) looked at a barren tree, stripped of leaves and fruit, waiting silently and patiently for the sure hope of summer abundance. Gazing at the tree, Herman grasped for the first time the extravagance of God’s grace and the unfailing sovereignty of divine providence. Like the tree, he himself was seemingly dead, but God had life waiting for him, and the turn of seasons would bring fullness. At that moment, he said, that leafless tree ‘first flashed in upon my soul the fact of God,’ and a love for God that never after ceased to burn.”

I find this to be a fascinating story and also yet one more reminder of how Creation serves as God’s “other Book.”  From the very beginning God has used the world of nature to speak to us.  Creation has many divine lessons to teach us but in order for us to learn these lessons we have to be open to instruction and also careful observers of God’s handiwork.

It is interesting that Brother Lawrence’s experience occurred in “the deep of winter.”  We are in that season now.  As you look around you this time of year what do you see in the natural world that might be offering you divine lessons?  The lesson Brother Lawrence received was a great one indeed but there are many others just as wonderful waiting to be discovered by those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.  We would all be wise to start paying more attention.

–Chuck

(I took the top image in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the middle image at the Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, and the bottom image at John James Audubon State Park.)

The past few days I have been in North Cascades National Park.  This is my first time here.  I have wanted to photograph this park for quite some time and was certainly hoping that I could capture some beautiful images.  My guide for this adventure has been Michael Boone, founder of R120, an organization committed to helping others see and experience God in Creation. The first morning we made our way up to Cascade Pass.  I immediately began composing images of the mountain peaks and glaciers. I liked what I saw and looked forward to viewing my images that evening when we got to the hotel.

Late that evening I downloaded my pictures and when I began looking at them I was very disappointed. I had made several mistakes that I typically don’t make. I felt bad that I had blown a wonderful opportunity. I knew I could go back to the same area the following day but certainly had no guarantee that the conditons would be as good as they had been that day. Past experience had taught me that you don’t always get “do overs” when it comes to nature photography. The following morning we did go back up to Cascade Pass and thankfully the conditions were just as good as the day before. I was able to make up for the mistakes I had made the previous day and ended up quite pleased with my images. Needless to say, I was very grateful for the second chance I was given.

As I offered a prayer of thanks for getting a “do over” I was reminded that the God of Creation is One whose specialty is offering people second chances.  This is something I will forever be grateful for.  I’ve made a lot of mistakes taking pictures over the years but those are a drop in the bucket compared to the number of mistakes I have made in life.  I have blown it more times than I could count.  This could cause me to give up in despair but the good news presented in the Scriptures is that God permits “do overs.”  By his mercy and grace every day is a new beginning.  God forgives the mistakes we make and allows us to start anew.  Each day we receive “grace upon grace.” (John 1:16)

I was able to get better pictures by trying again the second day.  Had I not done so needless to say I wouldn’t have the pictures I do now.  I took advantage of the opportunity I was given.  We have to do the same thing with the gift of each new day.  We need to accept God’s forgiveness and mercy and try again.  Hopefully we can learn from our mistakes and do better.  That is certainly God’s intention.  Some of us, of course, are slow learners.  If you’re one of them, don’t despair because come tomorrow you will be granted yet another “do over.”  That is why they call God’s grace “amazing!”

–Chuck

(The pictures shown above were taken the second day at Cascade Pass.)

While flying across country yesterday for a photo trip I had a chance to do some reading.  One of the books I read from was When Heaven and Nature Sing by Edward R. Brown. In the part I read he addressed a biblical passage I have struggled with a bit, Psalm 8:6-8.  In this passage the Psalmist says concerning humans, “Thou dost make him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou has put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas.”  In previous entries I have discussed the meaning of the word “dominion” in Genesis 1 and indicated that this implied caring for the earth instead of ruling over it. Does Psalm 8 contradict what I’ve said?

Brown tackles that question in his book. He say that before we conclude that humans have ultimate power over Creation we need to remember how Psalm 8 both begins and ends. Verse 1 says “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory above the heavens.”  The last verse of the psalm echoes verse one: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”  Brown calls these the “Divine Bookends.”  He says whatever is said in the middle of the psalm must be bracketed by these words. He believes that they “affirm God’s control and sovereignty over us, his people” and that “our authority over God’s creation begins and ends with God’s authority over us.”  That certainly makes sense.  I believe it was Ernest T. Campbell who once preached a sermon on this subject and concluded that we may be “over nature” but that we always remain “under God.”  We are responsible to Him for how we rule over the rest of Creation.

Brown explores the ramifications of this.  He says, “The actions, purposes and goals we pursue in our management of God’s creation must reflect God’s purposes for us.  We should be pursuing God’s goals for creation and we can best do that by looking at the goals God has as he cares for us.  It’s like a creation-wide version of the golden rule:  Not just that we should ‘do unto others as we want them to do unto us’ but that we should care for all of creation as God cares for us.”  He goes on to write, “God’s care for us is in every case almost the opposite of how we act toward creation. God gives; we take.  God seeks our best. Those God cares for blossom and flourish under his care.  We, by contrast, seek from creation what is best for ourselves.  Creation withers and dies under our hands.”

There can be no denying that the Bible teaches that God has given humans a special role to play in His Creation but in the end God must determine how we fulfill that special role, not us.  It should be our goal to rule the earth as God would.  That means that in relating to the earth, as in all of our other relationships and actions, we ought to pause and ask “What would God (or Jesus) do?” before doing something.  Do you think things would be different today if all of God’s children had done that through history?  I do.

–Chuck

(I am blessed to be in western Washington this week with R120’s Michael Boone.  All of the images shown here were taken today.)

“O Lord, how many are Thy works!  In wisdom Thou hast made them all; the earth is full of Thy possession.” Psalm 104:24

Yesterday our friends at R120 posted a quote from the British pastor Charles H. Spurgeon.  It comes from a sermon he preached based on Psalm 104.  Spurgeon declared, “This Psalm is all through a song of nature, the adoration of God in the great outward temple of the universe. Some in these modern times have thought it to be a mark of high spirituality never to observe nature; and I remember sorrowfully reading the expressions of a godly person, who, in sailing down one of the most famous rivers in the world, closed his eyes, lest the picturesque beauties of the scene should divert his mind from scriptural topics. This may be regarded by some as profound spirituality; to me it seems to savor of absurdity. There may be persons who think they have grown in grace when they have attained to this; it seems to me that they are growing out of their senses. To despise the creating work of God, what is it but, in a measure, to despise God himself?”

I find these words fascinating.  It is incomprehensible to me that anyone could consider it “a mark of high spirituality never to observe nature.”  I also find it hard to believe that a person would deliberately close his or her eyes to the beauty of nature in fear that it might harm them spiritually.  I have never met anyone who thought like this.  I certainly hope that if such people exist their numbers are few.  Still, the number of those who fail to realize that Creation is God’s “other Book” is large.   They may not have closed their eyes to God’s revelation through nature deliberately but they might as well have.  Unintentionally they have elected to practice a “low spirituality.”

Spurgeon offers a wonderful affirmation of Creation’s goodness and wisely notes that when we despise the work of God’s hands we “in a measure, despise God himself.”   We proceed on dangerous ground when we attempt to separate God from that which He has made.  Such an approach prohibits us from learning much about the Creator.  It can also keep us from recognizing the sacredness of the earth and our divine obligation to “tend the garden” or care for Creation.  Both of these side effects of a low spirituality are extremely dangerous.  Both of them actually put us in a position where we might very well “despise God himself.”

Hopefully our goal is to practice a high spirituality.  There are many things that this would entail but undoubtedly one aspect of it would be to recognize the goodness of Creation and God’s revelation through it.  Failure to include this would seem to indicate that we have grown out of our senses and entered the realm of absurdity.  God forbid that should happen to any of us.

–Chuck

(I took the pictures used above last week during my visit to Canaveral National Seashore and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.)

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place…” Psalm 8:3

My friends at R120 (make sure to check out their Facebook page) recently shared a quote from Rachael Carson’s delightful book, The Sense of Wonder.  It reads: “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for the spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter.” I could not agree more with Carson’s words.

In God’s awesome Creation there truly are reserves of strength waiting for all of us.  I would like to emphasize the word “waiting” here because we do not gain strength from these reserves automatically.  As Carson points out, they prove profitable for those “who contemplate the beauty of the earth.”  Some will notice a flock of birds flying overhead and think nothing of it.  Others will just observe the crashing waves and give no thought to the perpetual ebb and flow of the tides.  As spring begins to put on its annual show of color many will no doubt take note but how many will give any noticable thought to what it means for the earth to renew itself this way each year?

In the Scriptures it becomes clear that David, Jesus, Paul and others paid close attention to what was happening in the natural world.  They found spiritual lessons there but one cannot help but believe they also found healing and strength in God’s Creation.  I am convinced that this was God’s plan from the beginning.  The natural world does not exist solely to meet our physical needs.  There is much in Creation that meets emotional and spiritual needs as well.  Spending time in nature can be therapeutic and healing.  By actually taking the time to contemplate on or study God’s “other Book” we can find strength to sustain us, as well as reason for hope.

I believe nature has something to offer us in all seasons but spring truly is a special time.  I encourage you to get out and enjoy the wonders of this season.  As you do so contemplate what you are seeing, hearing and feeling.  Remember that God is waiting to be found in Creation and that in nature He has provided for all of us reserves of strength to help us on our journey.  It only makes sense that we take advantage of this precious gift.

–Chuck

(I took the top image from my driveway in Pikeville, Ky; the middle image on the coast of California; and the coneflower in Tennessee.)