From My Nature Journal -- Celebrating Earth Day by Praying through the Creation Story: Day 5, "Known"

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 5 – “Known” -- And God said, “Let the waters bring forth… creatures, and let birds fly… Be fruitful and multiply…” (Genesis 1:20, 22)

Read: Genesis 1:1, Genesis 1:20-23, Job12:7-10 and Matthew 6:25-34

Reflect: “Be fruitful and multiply,” said God. But if there is ever any question about God’s generosity or largesse, that question seems to be answered when considering the veritable abundance of his creatures. For example, did you know there are about 10,000 known species of birds, and 30,000 fish, compared to about 5,000 mammals? It is no wonder primitive peoples were impressed, looking to animals in their animistic religions. We could do far worse than that, and often do.

Yet in spite of their numbers, it is these beasts Job turns to for encouragement in his suffering, needing to know that God has not forgotten him. (Be sure to read that passage, it’s delightful!) Jesus also refers to birds as proof of God’s loving care, not only in the Matthew 6 text but in Matthew 10:29, where he says that the Father takes loving notice when even a single, plain sparrow falls to the ground. What a God!

But have you noticed a phrase and word that has been used in each of the Genesis passages we’ve read this week except for one? In five of the ‘six days of creation,’ it says, “And God saw that it was good.” (God must have had a bad day on Day 2!) The Hebrew word for good is tov (long O). Tov is more than just a generic good as we might think of it. Tov is great cheer, the highest of goods, a sense of well-being in the widest sense. And by ‘day 6’ after animals and humans are created, God calls it all very tov! Even God was impressed.

Observe: Think for a moment: how many birds do you think you’d recognize by their call alone? A robin? A crow? A chickadee? (That one’s easy, they say their name!) Write down as many as you can think of in three minutes, even if one is a rooster! Then give God thanks that he knows your voice, he knows your name, he knows your needs and those of your loved ones.

Pray: I am astounded by your creation, God, awed by its complexity and variety. From landforms to animals to the heavenly bodies to human beings, your table is indeed an abundant one. Thank you for the beauty of your earth. Amen.

Hymn for the Day: “All Creatures of our God and King”

Link for the Day: Dccorah, Iowa Eaglecam

From My Nature Journal: Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing

Purity of heart is to will one thing.

These were words of Danish philosopher and social critic Søren Kierkegaard (in fact, they were a book title of his), speaking of the singularity of purpose and will with which the mature follower of Christ pursued the life of faith. Off the top of one’s head it might be challenging to describe that ‘one thing’ in a single sentence, and would be interesting to raise that subject among a group of friends sometime soon. But it no doubt relates to the same ‘one thing’ about which Jesus exhorted Martha in Luke 10:41-42, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about so many things. But only one thing is needed…”

Singularity of will… Sometimes, by contrast, my seeming multiplicity of wills is an annoyance, and that not only to me.

Singularity of will… Sometimes, by

contrast, my seeming multiplicity of wills

is an annoyance, and that not only to me.

Over the last several springs there has been a bass nest in a couple feet of water about twenty feet south of our dock. A fish nest? Yes, they’re different from most other animal nests – in the wide open with little cover, and in the case of bass and many other fish, are simply a roughly circular clearing where the male has driven away the sand and silt with his tail and left a slight, gravelly depression. Nose anchored in a fixed position, he pivots to create a bed approximately twice his length. (‘Our’ nest is twenty-four to thirty inches in diameter.) He’ll then coax a ready female over it and woo her; mama releases her eggs, papa gives them a spray of sperm (called ‘milt’), and the fertilized eggs settle into the sparse cover of cracks and crevices below. She swims away, often to spawn again

A bass nest

elsewhere, and the male may entice another female to spawn with him, assuring good diversity of offspring. The male then guards the nest for several days, not exactly settling on but hovering over it or patrolling nearby; when the fry hatch (I always thought ‘fry’ was an ironic name for juvenile fish, given their potential future…), papa will guard it for another day or two and then be gone. Many of these nests are visible in shallow water, as the gravel tends to be lighter in color than the silt and sand that has been blown aside. And if the lake is calm, it is usually quite easy to spot a nice-sized fish perched over it.

During spawning season, fishermen work these beds with various techniques to catch them. (I won’t reveal here what I think is the most effective method, as that would be to disclose trade secrets.) Most fisherpeople I know have long since progressed to catch-and-release when it comes to bass, especially in pristine natural settings where better food fish like sunnies, walleye and trout are more available. It takes a pretty large bass to be a legal keeper in the northwoods anyway, in excess of fifteen inches here in Michigan. Up north, that’s a big fish; individuals that reach this size do not do so because they’re dumber than average.

But bass are just plain fun to catch. Even small ones give an amazing thrill, and they are just so beautiful to see up close. Only very rarely is one wounded in the catch-and-release process, if it is done right. A few seconds out of the water, liberation from the hook, maybe a photo, and finally a gentle release and they’re back in the water in a few flashes, more quickly gone in a flash of their own.

And this is if a spawning fish can even be caught. Getting back to the idea with which I started, they are pretty intent on their purpose. Typically a nesting fish will ignore the distraction of nearby food, including bait or lure; in fact, it is not unusual for a nested fish to pick up the edge of a lure ever so gently, too smoothly and lightly for the fisherman to even feel it, then move to the edge of the nest and just spit it out. I’ve seen them do this. Can’t you picture it? “Oh, there’s that annoying little thing again… (Lift.) Puhtooey!” In fact, if a fisherman has the ability to actually see his lure move slowly left or right, defying physics, a quick tug might capture him right then and there.

This past Memorial weekend my dear son-in-law could not resist seeing if he could raise the old boy in our swimming area and take a look. I watched for a short while from the three-season porch as he worked the bed, and, immediately after I looked away, he was clambering quickly up the steps with his catch held carefully in both hands. We hastily shared the joy of this little natural beauty, and Beej was off quickly for the release.

Here’s the thing, though… Later that morning, out of curiosity I asked him if he could tell if the fish had returned to its nest at all while he was down there continuing to fish. “Oh, within seconds it was back on it,” he replied. “Really? Within seconds?” “Yes, maybe ten.” We both shook our heads in amazed delight. It had just gone through what was likely a first-in-its-life experience, fought a fight that would mean life or death, was forcefully yanked from its familiar environment and was finally introduced to as foreign a setting as underwater would be to us. Once back in the water, wouldn’t you think it’d take off for the most distant cover it could find, in sheer fear? Nope, within a brief moment he was back at it as before.

That is singularity of purpose. That is willing one thing.

Forgive my anthropomorphism, but, as always, natural realities constantly remind me of spiritual realities. I wish I could possess that kind of singularity of will. My mind at times wanders, my commitment at times wavers. If purity of heart is to will one thing, my heart must be pretty adulterated. Will it be Jeremiah’s description that wins out, who said, The heart is deceitful above all things, and is exceedingly corrupt…? Or Paul’s description – This one thing I do. Forgetting what lies behind… I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus…? One clever commentator asked the question, “Do we say, with Paul, ‘This one thing I do,’ or do we rather say, ‘These twenty things I dabble in?’”

God knows me and knows my heart, and I draw great consolation from that. As Thomas Merton prayed, “…I believe that the desire to please You does, in fact, please You.” God knows your heart, too. In the midst of life’s distractions, however annoying, or its traumas, however shocking, there is a place of purpose to which we may return and find again the possibility of life renewed and hope restored.

~~ RGM, June 1 2016

Blowin' in the Wind: Job 12:7-10, Holy Bible

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

Whitetail Fawn

Ask the animals and they will teach you,
the birds of the air and they will tell you.
Ask the plants of the earth
and they will instruct you,
and the fish of the sea 
will declare to you.
Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life 
of every living thing
and the breath of all humankind.
               ~~Job 12:7-10



Yup, much to learn from Job... No wonder it’s among the Biblical writings called Wisdom Literature. Are people the only things in creation that have the capacity to ignore the Obvious?

Common Loon (Photos by R&G Mylander)

Job is wedged in a place of deep suffering. The friends that gather around him offer little consolation, insisting his travail is of his own doing. But Job is sure of his integrity before God and appeals to nature in his defense. Creation knows. The mysteries of faith, pain and life are peaceably accepted by the rest of creation; why not us? 


My pastor and good friend Paul has this phrase he uses from time to time -- “…Right observation. Wrong conclusion.” Job’s detractors are often guilty of this. They and we might do well to look more keenly for guidance at the way God speaks through God’s creation.

~~RGM, February 18, 2013

P.S. Next up? Photo of the Month...