From My Nature Journal -- Celebrating Earth Day by Praying through the Creation Story: Day 2, "Beloved"

Introduction: The ways people pursue God, or even pray, can be as different as the very people who pursue God. Spiritual writers and mentors have long appreciated these varieties of pathways that pilgrims have followed in their prayer journey. For example, many are led to deep devotion through such things as music, contemplation or activism, but others have found that it’s the beauty and mystery of the natural, created world that leads them to a humbling encounter of praise and prayer with their Creator God. Of course, the pathways mix to varying degrees according to our personalities and interests.

Those who find nature an important spiritual pathway can see their own faith story unfold in the creation story of Genesis 1 and 2 in the Christian and Jewish Bible. Being mindful not to worship creation but only the Creator, a consideration of the natural world not only helps them do that, but also guides them in their stewardship of what God has created. Each day this week we will look to the ‘seven day’ creation story from these first two chapters of the Bible’s very first book. All references are from the Bible’s New Revised Standard Version.

Day 2 – “Beloved” -- And God said, “Let there be a dome…” (Genesis 1:6)

Read: Genesis 1:1, Genesis 1:6-8, Psalm 36:5-10 and Psalm 108:3-6

Reflect: Now that light has been created and things may be seen (had there been people to see them!), it is said that God separates the waters from the firmament, another word for the skies. And just like that, formlessness moves further to form. This is not the place for the unwinnable argument over the creation process. Suffice it to say that, as our story within God’s creation story continues to unfold, we simply and most critically see the actions of a personal God whose love, beauty and order also continue to unfold, even, perhaps even especially, in the midst of chaos.

The Psalmist David goes so far as to say that it is these very, astounding and expansive skies that best show God’s ‘steadfast love’ and faithfulness. The phrase ‘steadfast love’ is from the Hebrew chesed, and, as far as I can ever remember, it is a phrase I’ve never seen referenced to anyone but God. Translators even struggle to render the richness and uniqueness of the phrase, showing it also as ‘tender mercy,’ ‘loving kindness,’ or ‘unfailing love.’ In its near-defying translation, it is therefore perhaps deserving of sole reference to the Almighty.

The Psalms also say, “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork (Psalm 19:1).” Our human condition too often causes us to look down as we pace ourselves through our own chaos and check our steps. Yet the scriptures implore us also to look up and see the mastery and mystery of our Creator God. It is here that a whole different dimension of prayer can begin. Praise God for this larger upward perspective, this great blessing!

Observe: How long has it been since you truly sat back for a while and looked up at the sky? What incredible things to behold it contains! Take a five-minute retreat today to do just that. What do you see for which you can give God thanks? Then, go deeper. Ask yourself: for me, in what ways does God’s loving-kindness extend to the heavens? In what ways does God’s faithfulness reach the clouds?

Pray: Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee.

Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not. As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be. Amen.

Hymn for the Day: “Great is Thy Faithfulness”

Link for the Day: Chris Tomlin sings “Indescribable”

~~ RGM, April 23, 2018

Blowin' in the Wind: Psalm 19

(Blowin’ in the Wind is a regular feature on my blog consisting of an assortment of nature writings – hymns, songs, excerpts, prayers, Bible readings, poems or other things – pieces I may not have written but that inspire me or have given me joy. I trust they will do the same for you.)

As usual, I’m watching the skies these days. There’s a solar eclipse today that the United States will not get a peak at; but still, there’s always something wonderful going on up there. The western exposure of Orion every evening tells me the last vestiges of winter are upon us, so it’s good to see it every night and wish it a fond farewell until we see it again in the east next fall. A few weeks ago the highlight was seeking an elusive comet that failed to put on the show some expected. Right now, it’s the blazing beauty of Venus in the western sky at sunset, so bright that it’s even possible to see it before the sun’s orb slips below the western horizon, though this is not an easy thing to do. But as majestic as Venus looks today, keep watch: within three months, Jupiter, now high overhead at nightfall, will join it in a spectacularly close conjunction of less than one degree. That’ll be absolutely gorgeous. They’ll keep closing in on each other until then, so try to spot them both in the evening sky now, then watch them converge in the weeks ahead as they almost come to trip upon one another!

The heavens declare the glory of God; and

the firmament sheweth his handiwork…

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.” That’s how the old King James Version of the Bible put it in Psalm 19:1. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” is the way it is translated in the New International Version. Interestingly, many are the translations that render the start of the verse with that unadorned yet forceful “The heavens declare the glory of God!” That truly says it, plain and simple.

But I thought I’d share this week the translation from Eugene Peterson’s The Message, which always manages to pick up a few fresh twists of phrase that, for me, cause a smile to be shed and a

nod of my head as I read them:

God’s glory is on tour in the skies,

God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.

Madame Day holds classes every morning,

Professor Night lectures each evening.

Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded,

But their silence fills the earth:

Unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.

God makes a huge dome for the sun – a superdome!

The morning sun’s a new husband leaping from his honeymoon bed,

The daybreaking sun an athlete racing to the tape.

That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset,

Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith.

                                                            (Psalm 19:1-6, The Message)

A tent to contain and display God’s uncontainable glory, the silent heavens nevertheless speak, and that loudly! And the sun, though widely worshiped among ancient peoples, is here simply a creature of God’s good pleasure, pouring out its heat as parodist of the permeating presence of God. The word ‘declare’ is from the Latin de, which intends thoroughness, and clarare, to make clear, so a

declaration’s intent is ‘to make thoroughly clear.’ The heavens surely do that – make God’s glory clear, that is. The OED defines declare in this way: to say something in a solemn and emphatic manner. It is the honesty and surety one is intended to give under oath. In other words, the heavens’ declaration is an oath, a vow, a testimony to the grandeur and glory of God.

I like that. And I guess I also like taking that oath myself, testifying in my own solemn and emphatic manner of the truth I see.

Day or night, get outside. Look up. Be blessed. Take a vow as God takes a bow.

~~RGM, March 20, Vernal Equinox, 2015