Jesus was a lover of nature's beauty

JESUS WAS A LOVER OF NATURE'S BEAUTY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Matthew 6:28-2928"And why do you worry about
clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do
not laboror spin. 29YetI tell you that not even
Solomonin all his splendorwas dressedlike one of
these.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The God Of The Fowls And The Flowers
Matthew 6:26, 28
R. Tuck
The point which seems to be prominently suggestedhere is this: Fowls and
flowers representthe creatures and the adornments of the Father's house.
Disciples representthe children of the Father's house. It is fair and forcible
argument; it comes close home to us, by its appeal to our common everyday
observations and experiences, that if the Father cares, in a very marked way,
for the creatures and the adornments (show a mother's daily care to feed her
birds and tend her flowers), he will much more anxiously care for every
welfare of his children (see the way of that same mother with her babe). The
following line of thought will be readily illustrated.

I. Man is a part of God's creation, just as truly as fowls and flowers are, and
must be just as fully included in the Creator's daily care. "The eyes of all wait
on thee."
II. But, if included, man must he included as man, and as God knows man,
and all his wants, bodily and spiritual, seeing that God createdhim, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
III. For God's care - if we are to conceive of it as worthy of God - must be in
precise adaptationto eachcreature for whom he cares.
IV. Then we may be sure that God cares forman so far as man is kin with the
fowls and the flowers.
V. Then we may be sure that God cares for man so far as man is superior to
the fowls and the flowers. RememberMungo Park's reflectionwhen, in a time
of utter despair, he found a small moss, and, admiring its root, leaves, and
capsule, thought thus: "Canthat Being who planted, watered, and brought to
perfection, in this obscure part of the world, a thing which appears of so small
importance, look with unconcern upon the situation and sufferings of
creatures formed after his ownimage? Surely not." That reflection inspired
new effort, which resulted in Park's rescue. - R.T.
Biblical Illustrator
Considerthe lilies.
Matthew 6:28
Considerthe lilies
C. M. Merry.
I. THE OBJECTS TO WHICH HE DIRECTS US FOR THE LESSON HE
WOULD TEACH.

II. THE LESSON ITSELF. Godtakes care ofthe lilies; the inference(1)From
the less to the greater;(2) From the gift to the recipient. Shall God follow the
gift with so much interest and be unmindful of him for whom it is intended;(3)
From the ornamental to the needful.
III. THE REBUKE TO UNBELIEF AND CALL FOR FAITH.
(C. M. Merry.)
Considerthe lilies
W. E. Shalders, B. A.
1. Forthe sake oftheir tender associations. The life of flowers has all the
vicissitudes of human life.
2. Considertheir growth.
3. Their beauty.
4. Their unselfishness.
5. Their death.
(W. E. Shalders, B. A.)
Christ and the lilies
A. J. Griffiths.
1. Lily-life and growth teachus freedom from care.
2. The lily grows everywhere, the Oriental lily.
3. The specialutility of the lily.
4. A word on this question of raiment. Life first, then clothing.
(A. J. Griffiths.)

The lilies' witness
J. Stoughton, D. D.
or, God will take care of you.
I. So, then, THERE IS A GOSPELIN NATURE. Under pretence of exalting
what God has said in His Word we must not depreciate what He has done in
His works. There is a gospelin nature, not the gospel. Christ comes as the
interpreter of nature's gospel. This gospelof nature is especiallyfor the poor.
II. THIS GOSPELMUST BE MUSED ON. Nature's text must be studied —
"consider." Multitudes are blind and deaf, not through misfortune, but from
disposition. Nature's gospelhas no vision for those who considernot.
III. THIS GOSPELIS VERY CONVINCING AND CONSOLATORYAS
EXPLAINED BY JESUS CHRIST.
1. God takes care ofthe lilies and the grass. Theydo not grow by chance.
2. From these specimens of nature Jesus preaches the good news of faith in
providence. Menare better than birds, and more useful.
(J. Stoughton, D. D.)
Lessons from the lilies
J. Norton.
The lily as an emblem of our blessedLord (Song of Solomon 2:1).
1. Purity.
2. Admiration at the amazing powerof God.
3. The unceasing watchfulness the Almighty One extends over all His works.
4. Humility. It delights in the valleys.

5. Contentment. Other flowers may boastthat they grow in more conspicuous
places, that their colours are more gay; but the lily is content to be as God
made it.
6. Beauty.
7. A reminder of immortality.
(J. Norton.)
The preaching of nature
Wilmot Buxton.
1. The first lessonwhich these silent preachers would have us learn is the
unfailing care of God for His creatures.
2. They indicate a resurrection.
3. The flowers teachus a lessonofusefulness.
4. The flowers teachus to be a comfort to our neighbours.
(Wilmot Buxton.)
The goodlife a ministry to the barren life
Wilmot Buxton.
In the highest part of the Peak of Teneriffe, far above the clouds, and in dry
and burning waste, there grows a plant which, in the spring time, fills the air
with delicious fragrance. There are some of us who may be condemned to live
in a barren and dry land of hard work and lonely trouble. But loving natures
and gentle words canmake that desert blossomas the rose.
(Wilmot Buxton.)

Considerthe lilies
Canon Titcomb, M. A.
Contentment without distrust.
I. They are CLOTHED WITH BEAUTY (1 Peter3:3, 4).
II. They GROW WITHOUT ANXIETY. They never fret because ofthe heat,
drought, rain, or cold. They pass through changes;are of different growth.
III. They are WATCHED, ALTHOUGH SOON TO PALL.
(Canon Titcomb, M. A.)
True contentment found in God
Bishop Hall.
If the sun of God's countenance shine upon me I may well be content to be wet
with some rain of affliction.
(Bishop Hall.)
Lessons from the lily
C. R. Wynne, M. A.
I. It has its root HIDDEN. Secrettrust, etc. No pure white lily could live
without the hidden root to draw up moisture from the soil.
II. Considerhow pure and sweetthe lily is, and how INNOCENT. Everybody
loves them. What a picture of the Child Jesus!
III. Considerthe lilies as A LESSON ABOUT DRESS. This the speciallesson
of text. He clothes the lilies in white. Some children always fretting about
dress. Vain about dress. Sinfully carelessaboutdress,

IV. Considerthe lily in THE EVENING. When sun sets, closeup. Don't stare
at darkness, hang the head and sleep. Children should do the same.
V. Even lilies MUST DIE.
(C. R. Wynne, M. A.)
The lilies of the field
W. H. Booth.
We learn from the lilies something con-cerning —
I. OUR FATHER'S POWER. Our heavenly Fatheris almighty. Variety in
colour, size, and form of the lily, an indication of God's power. God's
resources are so boundless. This power will punish or save us.
II. OUR FATHER'S CARE. Describe the beauty and delicacyof all the parts,
etc. Note concerning lilies. They are comparatively insignificant. They are
perishing. They often grow amongst thorns, yet are caredfor.
III. OUR FAITH. Our weaknessand liability to sicknessand death. Lilies not
more frail than our lives.
IV. OUR FUTURE LIFE. When stem and flowerwither, rootdoes not die,
etc.
V. Jesus CHRIST. He is calledthe "Lily of the valley." There are spots and
flaws in the characterof all others, none in His.
(W. H. Booth.)
Lily lessons
E. R. Conder, D. D.
I. A lessonofWONDER AND DELIGHT in contemplating the works ofGod.
They are God's workmanship.

II. ADMIRE AND LOVE WHAT IS BEAUTIFUL. Some people take no
accountof beauty; they want only the useful. The beauty of heaven, the beauty
of holiness.
III. DILIGENCE.
IV. PATIENCE AND PUNCTUALITY. Every blossomhas its season.
V. TOLERANCE. Lilies and roses and oaks all grow in obedience to same
laws;but eachafter its own pattern.
VI. A lessonof FAITH.
(E. R. Conder, D. D.)
God's workmanship combines regality and beauty
E. R. Conder, D. D.
One of the most noticeable things concerning the beauty of God's works is this
— that it is never stuck on as mere outside show, but grows out of their
nature. Men often make a thing ugly first, and then coverit up with paint, or
plaster, or gilding, to make it beautiful. God never does so. You will find no
sham ornaments on His works. The shape He gives to eachcreature is just
that which is fitted for it; and the colourwith which He adorns it will never
washoff. In His greatworkshop, truth and beauty go together.
(E. R. Conder, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(28) Why take ye thought for raiment?—The question might well be askedof
every race of the whole family of man. Yet we ought not to forgetits special
pointedness as addressedto a people who reckonedtheir garments, not less
than their money, as part of their capital, and often expended on them the
labour of many weeks ormonths. (Comp. Matthew 6:20; James 5:2.)
Considerthe lilies of the field.—Here again we may think of the lessonas
drawn immediately from the surrounding objects. The hill-sides of Galilee are
clothed in spring with the crown imperial, and the goldenamaryllis, and
crimson tulips, and anemones ofall shades from scarletto white, to say
nothing of the commonerbuttercups and dandelions and daisies;and all these
are probably classedroughly togetherunder the generic name of “lilies.” And
these, with what we may reverently speak of as a love of Nature, the Lord tells
His disciples to “consider,” i.e., notmerely to look at with a passing glance,
but to study—to learn, as it were, by heart—till they have realisedevery
beauty of structure and form and hue.
BensonCommentary
Matthew 6:28-30. And why take ye thought — Why are you anxious about
raiment? Consider the lilies of the field — Observe not only the animal, but,
what is yet much lower, the vegetable part of the creation, and mark how the
flowers of the meadows grow;they toil not — To prepare the materials of
their covering;nor do they spin — Or weave them into garments. “The
expressionου κοπια, here rendered, they toil not, denotes rural labour, 2
Timothy 2:6; and therefore is beautifully used in a discourse of clothing, the
materials of which are produced by agriculture.” — Macknight. Even
Solomonin all his glory — In his royal magnificence, and when sitting on his
throne of ivory and gold, 1 Kings 10:18;was not arrayedlike one of these —
Namely, in garments of so pure a white, and of such curious workmanship, as
one of these lilies presents to your view. The easternprinces were often
clothed in white robes, (and they were generallyaccounteda magnificent
apparel; see Esther8:15, Daniel7:9;) and therefore Calmet and Doddridge
properly refer this dress of Solomon to the whiteness of the lilies, rather than

to tulips of various colours. ora purple kind of lily, supposed by Ray (On the
Creation, page 107,)to be here intended by κρινα, the word we render lilies.
Wherefore if God so clothe the grass ofthe field, &c. — If an inanimate thing,
so trifling in its nature, and uncertain in its duration, is thus beautifully
adorned, will not God take care to clothe you, who are more valuable, as ye
are men endowed with reason, but especiallyas ye are my servants and
friends? The grass ofthe field, is a generalexpression, including both herbs
and flowers. Dr. Campbell renders the original expression, τονχορτον, the
herbage, and observes, that it is evident from the lily being included under the
term, that more is meant by it than is signified with us by the word grass;and
he quotes Grotius as remarking that the Hebrews ranked the whole vegetable
system under two classes,‫,צע‬ gnets, and ‫,צּׁשע‬ gnesheb, the former including all
sorts of shrubs, as well as trees, and the latter every kind of plant, which has
not, like trees and shrubs, a perennial stalk. Which to-day is — Namely, in the
field; and to-morrow is castinto the oven — The word κλιβανον, here
rendered the oven, is interpreted by some a still, for distilling herbs; but
“there is no reason,” says Macknight, “to alter the translation, since it appears
from Matthew 13:10, that they used some kind of vegetable substances for
fuel, particularly tares, which, if they were annuals, might be sufficiently dry
for immediate use by the time they were cut down, as the herb of the field is
here said to be; or to-morrow, in the text may mean, not the day immediately
after the herbs are cut down, but any time soonafter, the expressionbeing
proverbial, and easilyadmitting of this signification.” Dr. Campbell is of the
same mind, observing that he had not seena vestige of evidence in any ancient
author, that the art of distillation was then known, or any authority, sacredor
profane, for translating the word κλιβανος, a still. He thinks the scarcityof
fuel in those parts, both formerly and at present, fully accounts fortheir
having recourse to withered herbs for heating their ovens. It accounts also, he
supposes, forthe frequent recourse ofthe sacredpenmen to those similitudes,
whereby things found unfit for any nobler purpose, are representedas
reservedfor the fire. Add to this, Shaw (Trav. page 25,) and Harmer (chap. 4.
obs. 6,) inform us, that myrtle, rosemary, and other plants, are made use of in
Barbary to heat their ovens. Our Lord, to check every kind of distrust of the
divine providence, and to encourage confidence therein, adds, O ye of little
faith — Or, O ye distrustful, as Campbell renders the word ολιγοπιστοι,

observing, that “it is quite in the genius of the Greek language to express, by
such compound words, what in other languages is expressedby a more simple
term.” It is hardly necessaryto observe here, that “it does not follow from our
Lord’s application of the expression, O ye of little faith, that it is an exercise of
faith to sit with our arms folded, expecting support from the divine
providence, without any action of our own; but after having done what
prudence directs for providing the necessaries oflife, we ought to trust in
God, believing that he will make our labours effectualby his blessing.” It is
remarkedhere by Dr. Doddridge, that the word αμφιεννυσιν, rendered clothe
the grass ofthe field, properly implies the putting on a complete dress, that
surrounds the body on all sides;and beautifully expresses thatexternal
membrane, which (like the skin in a human body) at once adorns the tender
fabric of the vegetable, and guards it from the injuries of the weather. Every
microscope in which a floweris viewed, gives a lively comment on this text.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
6:25-34 There is scarcelyany sin againstwhich our Lord Jesus more warns
his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares aboutthe things of
this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the
rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though
we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your life.
Not about the length of it; but refer it to God to lengthen or shorten it as he
pleases;our times are in his hand, and they are in a good hand. Not about the
comforts of this life; but leave it to God to make it bitter or sweetas he
pleases. Foodand raiment God has promised, therefore we may expect them.
Take no thought for the morrow, for the time to come. Be not anxious for the
future, how you shall live next year, or when you are old, or what you shall
leave behind you. As we must not boastof tomorrow, so we must not care for
to-morrow, or the events of it. God has given us life, and has given us the
body. And what canhe not do for us, who did that? If we take care about our
souls and for eternity, which are more than the body and its life, we may leave
it to God to provide for us food and raiment, which are less. Improve this as
an encouragementto trust in God. We must reconcile ourselves to our worldly
estate, as we do to our stature. We cannot alter the disposals of Providence,
therefore we must submit and resign ourselves to them. Thoughtfulness for

our souls is the best cure of thoughtfulness for the world. Seek firstthe
kingdom of God, and make religion your business:say not that this is the way
to starve; no, it is the way to be well provided for, even in this world. The
conclusionof the whole matter is, that it is the will and command of the Lord
Jesus, that by daily prayers we may get strength to bear us up under our daily
troubles, and to arm us againstthe temptations that attend them, and then let
none of these things move us. Happy are those who take the Lord for their
God, and make full proof of it by trusting themselves wholly to his wise
disposal. Let thy Spirit convince us of sin in the want of this disposition, and
take awaythe worldliness of our hearts.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Considerthe lilies of the field - The fourth considerationis taken from the
care which God bestows on lilies. Watch the growing of the lily. It toils not,
and it spins not; yet night and day it grows. With a beauty with which the
most splendid monarch of the Eastwas never adorned. it expands its blossom
and fills the air with fragrance. Yetthis beauty is of short continuance. Soonit
will fade, and the beautiful flowerwill be cut down and burned. God"so
little" regards the bestowmentof beauty and ornament as to give the highest
adorning to this which is soonto perish. When He thus clothes a lily - a fair
flower, soonto perish - will he be unmindful of his children? Shall they dear
to His heart and imbued with immortality - lack that which is proper for
them, and shall they in vain trust the God that decks the lily of the valley?
Even Solomonin all his glory ... - The common dress of Easternkings was
purple, but they sometimes wore white robes. See Esther8:15; Daniel 7:9. It is
to this that Christ refers. Solomon, says he, the richestand most magnificent
king of Israel, was not clothedin a robe of "so pure a white" as the lily that
grows wild in the field.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
28. And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider—observe well.
the lilies of the field, how they grow:they toil not—as men, planting and
preparing the flax.

neither do they spin—as women.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
See Poole on"Matthew 6:30".
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And why take ye thought for raiment,.... Having exposedthe folly of an
anxious and immoderate care and thought, for food to support and prolong
life, our Lord proceeds to show the vanity of an over concernfor raiment:
considerthe lilies of the field or "the flowers of the field", as the Arabic
version reads it, the lilies being put for all sorts of flowers. The Persic version
mentions both rose and lily; the one being beautifully clothed in red, the other
in white. Christ does not direct his hearers to the lilies, or flowers which grow
in the garden which receive some advantage from the managementand care
of the gardener;but to those of the field, where the art and care of men were
not so exercised:and besides, he was now preaching on the mount, in an open
place;and as he could point to the fowls of the air, flying in their sight, so to
the flowers, in the adjacentfields and valleys: which he would have them look
upon, with their eyes, considerand contemplate in their minds,
how they grow;in what variety of garbs they appear, of what different
beautiful colours, and fragrant odours, they were;and yet
they toil not, or do not labour as husbandmen do, in tilling their land,
ploughing their fields, and sowing them with flax, out of which linen garments
are made:
neither do they spin; the flax, when plucked and dressed, as women do, in
order for clothing; nor do they weave it into cloth, or make it up into
garments, as other artificers do.
Geneva Study Bible
And why take ye thought for raiment? Considerthe lilies of the field, how
they grow;they {m} toil not, neither do they spin:
(m) By labour.

EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Matthew 6:28. Καὶ περὶ ἐνδύμ.] the new object of care placedfirst in the
sentence.
καταμάθετε]consider, observe:occurring nowhere else in the New Testament,
frequent in Greek writers, Genesis 24:21;Genesis 34:1;Job35:5.
κρίνον, ‫ׁש‬ ‫ּו‬‫,שָׁש‬ lilies generally, various kinds of which grow wild in the East,
without cultivation by human hands (τοῦ ἀγροῦ). There is no reasonto think
merely of the (flower) emperor’s crown(Kuinoel), or to suppose that
anemones are intended (Furer in Schenkel’s Bibellex.);the latter are called
ἀνεμῶναι in Greek.
πῶς] relatively: how, i.e. with what grace and beauty, they grow up! To take
πῶς αὐξ. interrogatively (Palairetus, Fritzsche), so that οὐ κοπ., etc., would
form the answer, is not so simple, nor is it in keeping with the parallel in
Matthew 6:26. They toil not, neither (specially)do they spin, to provide their
raiment. The plurals (αὐξάνουσιν, etc., see the critical remarks)describe the
lilies, not en masse, but singly (Kühner, ad Xen. Mem. iv. 3. 12, ad Anab. i. 2.
23), and indeed as though they were actualliving persons (Krüger on Thuc. i.
58. 1). Comp. in general, Schoemann, ad Isaeum ix. 8.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Matthew 6:28-30. Lessonfrom the flowers. καταμάθετε,observe wellthat ye
may learn thoroughly the lessonthey teach. Here only in N.T., often in
classics. Also in Sept[43], e.g., Genesis 24:21 : The man observed her
(Rebekah), learning her disposition from her actions.—τὰκρίνα, the lilium
Persicum, Emperor’s crown, according to Rosenmüllerand Kuinoel; the red
anemone, according to Furrer (Zscht. für M. und R.) growing luxuriantly

under thorn bushes. All flowers representedby the lily, saidEuthy. Zig. long
ago, and probably he is right. No need to discovera flower of rare beauty as
the subjectof remark. Jesus would have said the same thing of the snowdrop,
the primrose, the bluebell or the daisy. After ἀγροῦ should come a pause.
Considerthese flowers!Then, after a few moments’ reflection: πῶς, not
interrogative (Fritzsche), but expressive of admiration; vague, doubtful
whether the growthis admired as to height (Bengel), rapidity, or rate of
multiplication. Why refer to growthat all? Probably with tacit reference to
question in Matthew 6:27. Note the verbs in the plural (vide critical note) with
a neuter nominative. The lilies are viewed individually as living beings, almost
as friends, and spokenof with affection(Winer, § 58, 3). The verb αὐξάνω in
active voice is transitive in class., intransitive only in later writers.—κοπιῶσιν,
νήθουσιν: “illud virorum est, qui agrum colunt, hoc mulierum domisedarum”
(Rosenmüller). The former verb seems to point to the toil whereby bread is
earned, with backwardglance at the conditions of human growth; the latter to
the lighter work, whereby clothing, the new subject of remark, is prepared.
[43] Septuagint.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
28. for raiment] The birds are an example of God’s care in providing food, the
flowers of His care in providing apparel.
the lilies of the field] identified by Dr Thomson(Land and Book, p. 256), with
a species oflily found in the neighbourhood of Hûlêh. He speaks ofhaving met
with “this incomparable flower, in all its loveliness … around the northern
base of Tabor, and on the hills of Nazareth, where our Lord spent His youth.”
Canon Tristram (Nat. Hist. of the Bible) claims this honour for the beautiful
and varied anemone coronaria. “Ifin the wondrous richness of bloom which
characterises the Land of Israel in spring any one plant can claim
preeminence, it is the anemone, the most natural flower for our Lord to pluck

and seize upon as an illustration, whether walking in the fields or sitting on
the hill-side.”
Bengel's Gnomen
Matthew 6:28. Πῶς αὐξάνει, how they grow)sc. to a greatheight.—οὐ κοπιᾷ,
they toil not) Toil is remotely, spinning intimately connectedwith procuring
raiment, as sowing and reaping are with food.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 28. - Parallelpassage:Luke 12:26, 27. Luke's is longer and seemingly
more original. But in the absence ofexternal evidence, it must always be a
matter of opinion whether Matthew has compressedthe longer form of the
words, or vice versa. And why take ye thought for raiment? In vers. 25-27 our
Lord had spokenof food; in vers. 28-30 he speaks ofdress. He insists on the
needlessness (ver. 28)and on the comparative uselessness(ver. 29)of anxiety
about it, since even the king who had the greatestopportunities could not vie
in clothing with a single lily. Flowers have this glorious clothing (ver. 30),
though they are so perishable: much more shall you be clothed. Consider (ver.
26, note). The lilies (τὰ κρίνα). Though there are many kinds of lilies in
Palestine, and some of brilliant colouring (particularly the purple and white
Huleh lily found round Nazareth), yet none of them grows in such abundance
as to give the tone to the colouring of the flowers generally. It seems,
therefore, probable that the word is employed loosely. So, perhaps, in the
LXX. of Exodus 25:31, 33, 34, and other passages, where it represents the
"flowers" (‫פ‬ ֶּ‫ר‬ַ‫)ח‬on the candlestick. It appears, too, that ‫ׁש‬ ַ‫שֶׁש‬ ("lily,"
Authorized Version in Canticles)is also used by the Arabs of any bright
flower. If a single species is to be thought of, CanonTristram would prefer the
Anemone coronaria of our gardens, which is "the most gorgeouslypainted,
the most conspicuous in spring, and the most universally spreadof all the
floral treasures of the Holy Land" ('Natural History of the Bible,' p. 464, edit.
1877). Ofthe field. Matthew only in this phrase (but cf. ver. 30, note). Its
insertion emphasizes the spontaneity of origin, the absence ofcultivation, the
"waste"as not grownfor the comfort or pleasure of man. How they grow.
ProfessorDrummond's beautiful remarks upon this verse ('Natural Law,'

etc.)do not belong to exegesis, but to homily, for the stress of our Lord's
words lies on "grow," not on "how;" he is thinking of the fact, net the manner
of their growth. They toil not; to produce the raw material. Neitherdo they
spin; to manufacture it when produced. "Illud virorum est, qui agrum colunt;
hoc mulie-rum domisedarum" (Wetstein).
END OF BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Contemplating God in the Beautyof Nature
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Bill Gaultiere
Bible Studies
Tags:Animals, Francis of Assisi, Henri Nouwen, Nature, Scripture
Meditation, Worship God
A primary way God nourishes our souls with his loving presence is through
the beauty of nature. The face of the Lord shines on his in the sun. The moon
and stars remind us that God’s light and love shine to us even in the dark. The
Lord is speaking to us and warming us from the heavens, the Psalmistsays
(Psalm 19:1-6). The joy of the Lord comes to us in splashing waves and playful
animals! (Psalm 29:3, 6)
Throughout the Bible we read testimony of the Lord communicating to us in
the skies, oceanwaves, breeze rustling through the trees, fields and flowers,
and birds that sing cheerfully. Jesus reassures us that our Father in the
heavens always near cares forthe little sparrows and he cares for us (Matthew
6:26 and 10:29).

Nature reveals to us God’s beauty, glory, power, wisdom, presence, creativity,
and, most of all, his loving care. This is why we’re drawn to spend time in the
beauty of nature and to enjoy animals. To talk a walk on a beautiful day, play
with your dog in the grass, orhold your catare reliable ways for many people
to connectwith God’s loving presence.
Jesus makes continualuse of nature in his parables that welcome us to find
life with him in the Kingdom of God. The revelation of God in nature is so
poignant and prevailing that the Apostle Paul cautions if we don’t notice and
honor our Creatorwe are without excuse (Romans 1:20).
The Word of God inspires us to contemplate God in creation. Saint Francis of
Assisiand Henri Nouwen are two devoted disciples of Christ who draw our
attention to love God by loving his creatures and creation. Below are some of
the Bible verses that inspired them. These are followedby Saint Francis’
famous nature hymn: “All Creatures of Our God and King” and a meditation
from Henri Nouwenon “Being Sisters and Brothers of Nature”.
Bible Verses on God’s Beautyand Presence in Nature (NIV)
Understanding God’s Creation Helps us Trust Him
“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so
that what is seenwas not made out of what was visible.” (Hebrews 11:3; See
also Genesis 1:1ff, Isaiah 42:5, and many others.)
The CreationReveals Christ — it’s Co-Creatorwith God — Sustaining All
Living Things
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For
in him all things were created:things in heavenand on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have
been createdthrough him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all
things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17;See also 1 Corinthians 8:6)
God CreatedHuman Beings to Reflecthis Nature and Care for All the Living
Things he Created

“Godspoke:‘Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting
our nature so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the
air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face
of Earth.’ God createdhuman beings; he createdthem godlike, Reflecting
God’s nature. He createdthem male and female. God blessedthem: ‘Prosper!
Reproduce!Fill Earth! Take charge!Be responsible for fish in the sea and
birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.’”
(Genesis 1:26-28. MSG)
The Animals and Earth Teachus to Look to the Lord’s Open Hand
“Job, the righteous man who trusted God in suffering, wrote: “But ask the
animals, and they will teachyou, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
or speak to the earth, and it will teachyou, or let the fish in the sea inform
you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” (Job
12:7-10)
The Earth and the Heavens, Eventhe Night Skies, RevealGod’s Loving Care
for People
“O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher
than the heavens… When I look at the night sky and see the work of your
fingers — the moon and the stars you setin place — what are mere mortals
that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for
them?” (Psalm8:1, 3-4, NLT)
Look Up and Be Warmed by Your Bridegroomand Champion!
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his
hands. Day after day they pour forth speech;night after night they reveal
knowledge. Theyhave no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from
them. Yet their voice goes outinto all the earth, their words to the ends of the
world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a
bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his
course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.” (Psalm19:1-6)

The Earth is Full of the Lord’s Unfailing Love
“The Lord loves righteousness and justice;the earth is full of his unfailing
love.” (Psalm33:5)
The Makerof the Mountains is Our Helper
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains — where does my help come from? My
help comes from the Lord, the Makerof heaven and earth.” (Psalm121:1-2)
The Lord Createdus Wonderfully in Body and Soul
“Foryou [Lord] createdmy inmost being; you knit me togetherin my
mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:13-14)
The Lord Gives Water to the Wild Animals in the Desertand to Us
“This is what the Lord says — your Redeemer… The wild animals in the
fields will thank me, the jackals and owls, too, for giving them water in the
desert. Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wastelandso my chosenpeople can
be refreshed.” (Isaiah43:14, 20, NLT)
God is Clearly Revealedin Creation
“Forsince the creationof the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal
powerand divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from
what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
God Wants to Bring Freedomand Glory to All His CreationThrough Us
“Forthe creationwaits in eagerexpectationfor the children of Godto be
revealed. Forthe creationwas subjectedto frustration, not by its own choice,
but by the will of the one who subjectedit, in hope that the creationitself will
be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and
glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:19-21)
All People, Animals, and Fish Will Praise God and Christ
“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and
on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and

to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for everand ever!’”
(Revelation5:13)
All Creatures ofOur God and King: A Hymn by Saint Francis
Saint Francis of Assisi was a little man who lived in a little town in the Italian
countryside in the 13th Century, but he quickly became famous as a little
Christ. He lived out for us the pattern of a life of Christ. He loved God, God’s
Word, people, animals, and all of creation.
“Song, music, and poetry were so deeply a part of the nature of Saint Francis
that in times of sorrow and sicknessas wellas of joy and goodhealth he
spontaneouslygave voice in song to his feelings, his inspirations, and his
prayers.” (Francis and Clare:The Complete Works, p. 37, published by
Paulist Press, ©1982)
Saint Francis’canticle (or hymn) “All Creatures of Our God and King”
draws us to contemplate God’s beauty in creationand to take goodcare of all
animals and all living things as our brothers and sisters.
All creatures ofour God and King,
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softergleam!
Refrain:
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou rushing wind that art so strong,
Ye clouds that sailin heav’n along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!

Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice,
Ye lights of evening, find a voice!
Thou flowing water, pure and clear,
Make music for thy Lord to hear,
Thou fire so masterful and bright,
That givestman both warmth and light.
And all ye men of tender heart,
Forgiving others, take your part,
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear,
Praise Godand on Him castyour care!
Let all things their Creatorbless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One!
(By Saint Francis of Assisiin 1225. Paraphrasedby William H. Draper in
1901.)
Being Sisters and Brothers of Nature: A Meditation by Henri Nouwen
Like St Francis before him, Henri Nouweninspires us to take up our calling
as stewards of God’s creationand to appreciate that all the animals and all
createdthings are part of God’s beloved family with us. God is the Father of
all living things and we are all siblings. Here is Henri Nouwen’s meditation:

“When we think of oceans andmountains, forests and deserts, trees, plants
and animals, the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the galaxies, as God’s
creation, waiting eagerlyto be “brought into the same glorious freedom as the
children of God” (Roman 8:21), we canonly stand in awe of God’s majesty
and God’s all-embracing plan of salvation. It is not just we, human beings,
who wait for salvation in the midst of our suffering; all of creationgroans and
moans with us longing to reachits full freedom.
“In this way we are indeed brothers and sisters not only of all other men and
women in the world but also of all that surrounds us. Yes, we have to love the
fields full of wheat, the snowcappedmountains, the roaring seas, the wild and
tame animals, the huge redwoods, and the little daisies. Everything in creation
belongs, with us, to the large family of God.”
(Henri NouwenSocietyDaily Meditationfrom Bread for the Journey by
Henri Nouwen© 1997)
What does Jesus have to do with Nature?
January 5, 2018
Sometimes we tend to keepcertain things in our lives separate. Things that
don’t seemto go together—like Jesusand nature.
But this Seasonis a greatreminder of how Jesus and nature are indelibly
linked together.
I’ve always loved verses in the Bible that talk about the interactionbetween
nature and God.
So what does Jesus have to do with Nature?

One of my favorite Christmas carols is Joyto the World. The lyrics, written
by Isaac Watts, were first published almost 300 years ago. He based them on
Psalm98 in the Bible, which says things like:
“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth…Let the sea roar, and the
fullness thereof…Letthe floods clap their hands; let the hills be joyful
togetherbefore the Lord…”
Lake Superior waves
Jesus CreatedNature
According to Genesis (1:1), “In the beginning God createdthe heavens and
the earth.” How did He do it? “And God said…”
He spoke it into existence. In the Gospelof John in the New Testament, Jesus
is called“The Word.”
John (1:1-3) says:
“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God createdeverything
through Him, and nothing was createdexceptthrough Him.”
Who is “the Word”? Verse 14 tells us: “So the Word became human and
made His home among us.” It’s Jesus.
Colossians 1:15-16 reemphasizesit:
“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything
was createdand is supreme overall creation, for through Him God created
everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.”
Nature Displays Jesus’Characteristics
Just as we canlearn a lot about musicians and artists by studying their
creations, we canlearn a lot about Jesus by studying His creation.

FIRST, HIS CREATIVITY. Can you imagine the Mind that thought up all
the different kinds of animals on the earth? The plant life? The sea life? The
rocks and minerals? It’s a staggering amount of diversity and complexity.
And yet so interdependent.
The amazing orderliness and creativity of snowflakes!
SECOND,HIS ORDERLINESS. “Eachafterits kind” whether plant life or
animal life or people. An acorn always grows into an oak tree, never into a
maple tree. A salmon egg always grows into a salmon, never into a trout or a
zebra. Spring always follows winter, which always follows autumn, which
always follows summer.
THIRD, HIS POWER. Watercanwear awaysolid rock. Weathercandestroy
anything man can build. The energythe sun produces heats our planet from
93 million miles away.
FOURTH, HIS LOVE FOR BEAUTY. Birds with iridescent feathers and
lovely songs. Butterflies with unique and detailed wing patterns. Flowers with
wonderful aromas and eye- catching colors. Majestic mountains, lush rain
forests, gushing waterfalls, sparkling gemstones.
You getthe idea.
The beauty in the natural world is all around us
Nature Responds to Jesus’Presence
Back to Joy to the World and Psalm 98…
The Bible has many references to nature interacting with God, especiallyin
the Psalms:
“The heavens proclaim the glory of God; The skies display His craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;night after night they make Him known.
They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their

messagehas gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.”
(Psalm 19:1-4)
“Praise Him, O heavenand earth, the seas and all that move in them.” (Psalm
69:34)
Jesus Will RedeemNature One Day
Verse 3 of Joyto the World concludes with this wonderful phrase: “He comes
to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found.”
What’s the curse? The sins, sorrows and thorns referred to in the first half of
the verse, which references Genesis 3—the curses releasedas a result of the
fall of Adam and Eve.
Sin didn’t just bring judgement (the curse)on the people, but on the
ground…on the earth.
Romans 8:20-21 says:
“Againstits will, all creationwas subjected to God’s curse. But with eager
hope, the creationlooks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in
glorious freedom from death and decay.”
While we’re waiting for and working towards that day, we canhelp “make
His blessings flow far as the curse is found” by bringing the presence of Jesus
into our everyday lives.
And we can make His blessings flow by taking care of the wonderful creation
He made and will one day redeem. By tending it as His caretakersand
enjoying it as His daughters and sons.
A gorgeous Septembersunset, right in my hometown
(All scriptures are from the New Living Translation, © Tyndale House
Publishers)
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Beauty Of The Earth
Colossians 1:16-17 ESV/ 169 helpful votes
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—allthings
were createdthrough him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him
all things hold together.
Psalm19:1 ESV / 142 helpful votes
To the choirmaster. A Psalmof David. The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Genesis 1:31 ESV / 105 helpful votes
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And
there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
John 1:3 ESV / 104 helpful votes

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made
that was made.
Psalm104:1-35 ESV / 91 helpful votes
Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great!You are
clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a
garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his
chambers on the waters;he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the
wings of the wind; he makes his messengerswinds, his ministers a flaming
fire. He setthe earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. ...
He loves righteousnessand justice; the earth is full of the steadfastlove of the
Lord.
Ecclesiastes3:11 ESV / 85 helpful votes
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into
man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the
beginning to the end.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
Romans 1:20 ESV / 69 helpful votes
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have
been clearly perceived, ever since the creationof the world, in the things that
have been made. So they are without excuse.
Isaiah40:26 ESV / 61 helpful votes
Lift up your eyes on high and see:who createdthese? He who brings out their
host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness ofhis might, and
because he is strong in power not one is missing.
Job 12:7-9 ESV / 61 helpful votes

“But ask the beasts, and they will teachyou; the birds of the heavens, and they
will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teachyou; 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?
Isaiah65:17 ESV / 58 helpful votes
“Forbehold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things
shall not be remembered or come into mind.
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He
restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness forhis name's sake.
Genesis 1:1 ESV / 42 helpful votes
In the beginning, God createdthe heavens and the earth.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your
works;my soul knows it very well.
A Psalm of David. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world
and those who dwell therein,
1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV / 36 helpful votes
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor earheard, nor the heart of
man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
Genesis 2:1-25 ESV/ 29 helpful votes
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And
on the seventh day Godfinished his work that he had done, and he restedon
the seventhday from all his work that he had done. So God blessedthe
seventh day and made it holy, because on it God restedfrom all his work that
he had done in creation. These are the generations ofthe heavens and the

earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth
and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small
plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not causedit to
rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, ...
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let
them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens
and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing
that creeps on the earth.” So God createdman in his own image, in the image
of God he createdhim; male and female he createdthem. And God blessed
them. And God saidto them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and
subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the
heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
In the beginning, God createdthe heavens and the earth. The earth was
without form and void, and darkness was overthe face of the deep. And the
Spirit of Godwas hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let
there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And
God separatedthe light from the darkness. Godcalledthe light Day, and the
darkness he calledNight. And there was evening and there was morning, the
first day. ...
Revelation4:11 ESV / 24 helpful votes
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive gloryand honor and power,
for you createdall things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Exodus 20:11 ESV / 21 helpful votes
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in
them, and restedon the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessedthe Sabbath
day and made it holy.
John 3:16 ESV / 18 helpful votes

“ForGod so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoeverbelieves
in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Luke 12:27 ESV / 15 helpful votes
Considerthe lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you,
even Solomonin all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Romans 5:8 ESV / 10 helpful votes
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died
for us.
Hebrews 13:14 ESV / 8 helpful votes
For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
Ecclesiastes3:12 ESV / 6 helpful votes
I perceivedthat there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do
goodas long as they live;
Genesis 1:1-19:38 ESV/ 4 helpful votes
first day. ...
To the choirmaster:according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, our
Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have setyour glory
above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have
establishedstrength because ofyour foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the
stars, which you have setin place, whatis man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little
lowerthan the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. ...
1 Chronicles 15:1-16:43 ESV/ 3 helpful votes
David built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place
for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. Then David said that no one but
the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the Lord had chosenthem to carry
the ark of the Lord and to minister to him forever. And David assembledall
Israelat Jerusalemto bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had
prepared for it. And David gatheredtogetherthe sons of Aaron and the
Levites: of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with 120 of his brothers; ...
1 Kings 4:1-34 ESV / 3 helpful votes
King Solomonwas king over all Israel, and these were his high officials:
Azariah the sonof Zadok was the priest; Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of
Shisha were secretaries;Jehoshaphatthe son of Ahilud was recorder;Benaiah
the sonof Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were
priests; Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers;Zabud the son of
Nathan was priest and king's friend; ...
Genesis 1:1-5 ESV / 3 helpful votes
first day.
The Beautyat the Heart of Things

Before his conversion, St. Augustine once askedhis friends: “Do we love
anything but the beautiful? What then is the beautiful? And what is beauty?
What is it that allures and unites us to the things we love? For unless there
were a grace and beauty in them, they could not possibly attract us to them”
(Confessions,Bk. IV, ch. 13). The Saint recognizedthat what touches the
heart of man more than anything else is beauty. The heart experiences the
overwhelming force of loveliness which, one could say, does violence to it,
holding it captive in its enticing grasp. St. Augustine himself was powerfully
moved and even ensnared by the visual charm of the things of the world. He
experiencedthe frustration of fighting againsthis own weaknessand sinful
tendencies, his being forcefully drawn to the seductive beauty of creatures.
His experience is aptly expressedin the closing words addressedto God
of John Donne’s Holy Sonnet V:
Yet dearly I love You and would be loved fain,
But am betrothed unto Your enemy:
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again;
Take me to You, imprison me, for I
Except You enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, exceptYou ravish me.
While the loveliness of God’s creationwas made to elevate man’s heart to
recognize the surpassing beauty of the Creator, it easilybecomes a snare when
one allows oneselfto be enraptured by it. To be enthralled by creationmeans
to be incapable of seeing, beyond its ephemeral form, the eternal form that
sustains and surpasses it. The Norwegianwriter, Sigrid Undset, also provides
a vivid image of our fallen condition. Imagine we are traveling by night along
the wayto our heavenly Father’s house. By the roadside there are puddles
which reflect the beautiful lights of our goal. At times these reflections seemso
real and so very lovely that we are tempted to stop and try to take hold of
them, for they seemto make our goalalready present. But if we reachout to
grab them, we will lose the reflection and find ourselves coveredwith mud.

St. Augustine recognizedhis own vain diversions from the path to God only
after his conversion.
BelatedlyI loved Thee, O Beauty, so ancient and so new, belatedly I loved
Thee. Forsee, Thou wastwithin and I was without, and I sought thee out
there. Unlovely, I rushed heedlesslyamong the lovely things Thou hast made.
Thou wastwith me, but I was not with Thee. These things kept me far from
Thee;even though they were not at all unless they were in Thee. (Bk. X, ch.
27)
The parables of Jesus train the eye of our mind, enlightened by faith, to see
beyond the things of this world. By means of the elements from the visible
world, He soughtto instruct us in the realities of the invisible world. For when
God createdall things, He left in them tokens ofHimself, by endowing them
with innumerable gratifying qualities, making them reflections ofHis own
eternal wisdom. The true charm of creationlies in its having the capacityto
manifest, as in a mirror darkly, the invisible and imperishable order of grace.
It is in this sense that St. Augustine wrote after his conversion:
But what is it that I love in loving Thee? Notphysical beauty, nor the
splendor of time, nor the radiance of the light—so pleasantto our eyes—nor
the sweetmelodies ofthe various kinds of songs, nor the fragrant smell of
flowers and ointments and spices;not manna and honey, not the limbs
embracedin physical love—it is not these I love when I love my God. Yet it is
true that I love a certain kind of light and sound and fragrance and food and
embrace in loving my God, who is the Light and Sound and Fragrance and
Foodand Embracement of my inner man—where that Light shines into my
soul which no place cancontain, where time does not snatchaway the lovely
Sound, where no breeze disperses the sweetFragrance,where no eating
diminishes the Foodthere provided, and where there is an Embrace that no
satiety comes to sunder. This is what I love, when I love my God. (Bk. X, ch. 6)
The radiance of light, sweetness ofmelodies, fragrance offlowers, etc., all find
a spiritual counterpart in the beauty of God. It is in this sense that Gerald
Manley Hopkins wrote:“The world is chargedwith the glory of God”. For as
St. Paul said: “Eversince the creationof the world [God’s] eternal powerand

divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen
through the things He has made” (Rom 1:20).
The Spiritual Beauty of Christ
But beyond the recognitionof the beauty of the Word of God as it is
manifested in the loveliness ofcreation, there is the far superior spiritual
beauty of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Such beauty can be found by
meditating on SacredScripture, or it may be discoveredin the Church
through the beauty of her teachings, the example of her Saints, the dignity of
her SacredLiturgy. Many are the means that Christ uses to allow His beauty
to be shownforth and the holy angels help us to make use of them. For they
enlighten our minds, helping us to understand spiritual things in their
spiritual light. The famous words of the Russianauthor, Dostoevsky, “Itis
beauty that will save us”, were said in reference to the redemptive beauty of
Jesus Christ. It is the perception of this beauty which serves as the real
impetus in the lives of the Saints. Forit is the perception of beauty that draws
us, moves us, as it were, wounds us with a wound of love.
The 14th Century, Byzantine-Orthodox theologian, Nicholas Cabasilas, spoke
of the phenomena of being wounded by the beauty of Christ which leads to
heroic virtue. He wrote in his book, The Life in Christ: “When men have a
longing so greatthat it surpasses human nature, and eagerlydesire and are
able to accomplishthings beyond human thought, it is the Bridegroomwho
has smitten them with this longing. It is He who has sent a ray of His beauty
into their eyes. The greatness ofthe wound already shows the arrow which
has struck home; the longing indicates who has inflicted the wound” (The Life
in Christ, Bk. 2, ch. 15). In the same vein, St. Augustine, having been
entranced by the vision of the true, eternal beauty of God, wrote of his
conversionexperience as a spiritual wounding of longing for God:
Thou didst call and cry aloud, and didst force open my deafness. Thoudidst
gleamand shine, and didst chase awaymy blindness. Thou didst breathe
fragrant odors and I drew in my breath; and now I pant for Thee. I tasted,
and now I hunger and thirst. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for Thy
peace. (Bk. X, ch. 27)

St. John of the Cross says that this wound of love is effectedin particular by
the interior inspiration of the holy angels (cf. Spiritual Canticle, stanza 7).
They communicate to men the indescribable grandeur of the attractiveness of
the Divine Spouse. The angels communicate the lights of faith which allows us
to see all things bathed in the loveliness of our Redeemer. In the Sanctus, the
hymn which the Church sings at every Holy Mass expresslyin union with the
angels, she declares togetherwith the angels that “the heavens and the earth
are full of [God’s] glory”. In fact it is particularly by means of joining in the
pure praise of God, togetherwith the angels, that we can more perfectly hear
the “heavens declare the glory of Godand the firmament proclaim His
handiwork” (Ps 19:1). Forwith the help of the angels we can discoverthe
beauty of the Incarnate Word of God within creation.
In his poem, JosephPlunketaptly expresses this same spiritual vision of
creation:
I see His Bloodupon the rose,
And in the stars the glory of His eyes;
His Body gleams amid eternalsnows,
His tears fall from the skies.
I see His Face in every flower.
The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but His voice and, carvenby His power,
Rocks are His written words.
All pathways by His feet are worn,
His strong Heart stirs the ever beating sea,
His crownof thorns is twined with every thorn,
His Cross is every tree.

The Beautyof the Man of Sorrows
As beautiful as are Christ’s teaching and the example of His life, there lies
beyond them a most perfect manifestationof the beauty of God in the example
of His suffering and death. It is indeed a strange incongruity that the ugliest
event in human history should be the purest reflectionof true spiritual beauty
and indeed, the fountain from which all the beauty of the Church and her
Saints flows. In a conference givenin the year 2002, Pope BenedictXVI (then
still Cardinal) said that eachyear he is struck by a certain paradox which
occurs in the Liturgy of the Hours on Monday of Holy Week. Every four
weeks,it is the custom of the Church to sing in Monday Evening Prayer,
Psalm44 (45) which describes the wedding of the King, his beauty, his virtues,
his mission, as well as the loveliness of the Bride. The third verse of the Psalm
in particular praises the beauty of the Bridegroomwith the words: “You are
the fairestof the children of men and grace is poured upon your lips”. On
Monday of Holy Week, however, the Church adds to this very Psalm an
antiphon taken from the prophecy of Isaiah:“He had neither beauty, nor
majesty, nothing to attractour eyes, no grace to make us delight in him”
(53:2).
Cardinal Ratzinger askedthe question: “How can we reconcile this? The
appearance ofthe ‘fairestof the children of men’ is so wretchedthat no one
desires to look at Him. Pilate presentedHim to the crowd saying:‘Behold the
man!’, to rouse sympathy for the crushed and battered Man, in whom no
external beauty remained” (The Feeling of Things, the Contemplation of
Beauty, August 24, 2002). This strong contrast, which seems to imply a
contradiction betweenthe perfect beauty of Jesus, the Son of God, and the
Man of Sorrows, bereftof all beauty, touches upon the most profound and
central truth which lies at the heart of our Catholic faith. To follow the logic
of St. Paul, we can say “God’s foolishnessis wiserthan human wisdom, and
God’s weaknessis strongerthan human strength, and God’s ugliness is more
beautiful than human beauty” (cf. 1 Cor 1:25). The Son of God became the
visible image of the deformity of sin preciselyto reveal the glorious beauty of
His faithful love towards us.

It is with this vision of faith that St. Bernard interpreted the verse from the
Canticle of Canticles:“My dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock, in the coverts
of the cliff, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely” (Cant 2:14). In the expression“clefts of the rock”, St.
Bernard saw representedthe wounds of Christ. He wrote:
The secretofHis Heart is laid open through the clefts of His Body; that
mighty mystery of loving is laid open, laid open to the tender mercies of our
God, in which the morning sun from on high has risen upon us. Surely His
Heart is laid open through His wounds! Where more clearlythan in His
wounds does the evidence shine that You, Lord, ‘are goodand forgiving,
abounding in steadfastlove’? No one shows greatermercythan He who lays
down His life for those who are judged and condemned. (Commentary on
Song of Songs, 61,4)
It is preciselyin the perfect manifestation of God’s mercy that the Church can
know for certainthat “His voice is sweetand His Face is lovely”.
St. Bernard writes elsewhere:“The Church says:‘I am wounded with love’.
...She sees the Father’s only Son carrying His cross. She seesthe Author of
Life and glory transfixed by nails, wounded by a lance, smearedwith abuse
and finally laying down His precious life for His friends. She sees these things
and the sword of love pierces her soul more deeply.” Once more the
mellifluous doctorshows how to see the entrancing loveliness ofthe Man of
Sorrows.
The Beautyof God s Providence
The course of human events, so often scarredby the ugliness of man’s malice
or deformed by man’s lovelessness, canattimes lead men to question the
ultimate goodness,beauty and meaningfulness of things. Is the external
loveliness of creationtruly a reflectionof the divine goodness andbeauty
which lies at the heart of things, holding them in existence and governing
them? Or is it all nothing more than a deceiving mask, beneath which lies the
chaos of blind fate, senselessness, emptiness anddespair? It is to such deep
existential questions that the sorrowful Face ofChrist gives the clearest
response. The external “unloveliness” ofthe Man of Sorrows does notreveal a

chaotic senselessnessthat lies at the center of reality, but to the contrary, it
reveals the God who so loved the world that He gave His only Son.
The fact that salvation comes through the mystery of the Cross gives us the
certain convictionthat at the heart of things there lies the goodness and
beauty and God’s holy order. Nothing falls outside of God’s providence,
absolutely nothing. Everything has purpose in that “we know that all things
work togetherfor the goodfor those who love God” (Rom 8:28). The
appearance ofugliness and senselessness is only on the surface of things. The
holy angels canhelp us to scratchat that surface with an act of trust in order
to see the beauty of God’s provident care. But they can only do this when we
are willing to pray and praise God, not only in times of joy and plentifulness,
but also in the times of darkness and trial. We are calledto kneeldown and
pray the Sanctus with the holy angelupon the “ruins” which are to be found
everywhere in the modern world: the ruins of the family structure, the ruins
of culture and society, the ruined innocence of the youth. We pray in the sure
hope that even upon these sad ruins, God is able to raise up children for
heaven.
Already in the Old Testamentwe have the example of the patriarch, Joseph.
His brothers desired to do awaywith him because oftheir envy. So they sold
him into slaverywith evil intentions. Nevertheless,whenin the end his
brothers came to receive foodfor their families, Josephsaid to them: “It was
not you who sent me here, but God sent me before you to preserve for you a
remnant on the earth, and to keepalive for you many survivors” (Gen 45:8).
With the vision of faith, Josephsaw beyond the malice of the human
instruments which Godchose to use for His own purposes. It is a chief task of
our Guardian Angel to help lift our eyes, to see through external events to
recognize the loving and wise hand of God, even in the seeminglyunfortunate
or difficult events of our lives. The holy angels help us to cling to the Cross in
faith and fidelity, to see through it to what lies behind: God’s love and mercy.
All the faithful are called to bear witness to the world of the beauty of Christ
Thus, they convince the world that this beauty is not an illusion, it is not a
child’s dream, but it is in fact the heart of all creation. Through our baptismal
consecrationwe are called to the contemplation of the things of God and to

thereby show forth their beauty in our lives. In the words of St. Paul: “And all
of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflectedin a
mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory
to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18). It is
particularly during the seasonofLent that we confronted with the most
difficult and yet most rewarding challenge of focusing our minds upon the
mystery of the Cross, seeking in it the true beauty that lies far beyond the
surface of appearances.In this spirit, we want always to strive to make the
semtiments of St. Augustine our own:
Beautiful is God, the Word with God... He is beautiful in heaven, beautiful
on earth; beautiful in the womb, beautiful in His parents’ arms, beautiful in
His miracles, beautiful in His sufferings;beautiful in inviting to life, beautiful
in not worrying about death, beautiful in giving up His life and beautiful in
taking it up again; He is beautiful on the Cross, beautiful in the tomb,
beautiful in heaven. Listen to the song with understanding, and let not the
weakness ofthe flesh distract your eyes from the splendor of His beauty.
(Comm. on the Psalms 44, 3)
Fr. BasilNortz, ORC
The Outside, Wondrous World
© PatA. Fleming more by PatA. Fleming
Published: December3, 2018
The world outside is a wondrous place,
Filled with many miracles to see.
It's a place to hear and smell and feel.

It's a place so unfettered and free.
From the welcome warmth of the morning sun,
As it plays upon your eyes,
Enticing you from your slumber
To awakenand come alive.
Or the gentle touch of an Autumn breeze,
As it chills and caresses yourface,
Beckoning youto start your day
And let go of the night's embrace.
The sound of the birds as they twitter and sing,
Still nestled in the warmth of the trees.
Soonthey will lift their wings in flight,
Shooedawayby the fluttering leaves.
To smell that earthy, Autumn air,
As you step outside and breathe.
To hear that steady, familiar crunch,
As you wade through the dried, dead leaves.
To look up and getlost in a ceiling-less sky,

Deepblue or an ominous grey.
Squinting againstthe brightest of suns,
Or getting soakedby a sudden, cold rain.
To feel beads of sweatonyour clammy face,
In the heat of a blistering day.
Then submerge in a river that seeps through your skin,
Dousing the fire in your veins.
To trudge through the deepest, blistering snow,
As the ice stings your rosy red cheeks.
To smell all the fireplaces burning,
As those faint of heart retreat.
To see your breath float on the air,
As your toes and fingers freeze.
And witness an icy, white blanket of snow,
Just as far as you cansee.
The snowflakesfalling harder now,
The earth is in a blur.
Your clothes feeldamp and heavier,
Your speechbegins to slur.

Yes, the outside is a wondrous place,
A world of beauty and brawn.
It's independent but so reliable.
It's vulnerable and yet so strong.
Remember the smell of the summer flowers,
With bright colors allaround?
Deepgreenlawns and the aroma of grass,
Trees plush with leaves abound.
The ocean's glistening, thundering waves,
The gritty, infinite sands.
The forests of trees that reach up to the sky,
The mountains that tower over the land.
The outside world is an endless place.
It shows us how small we can be.
It can nurture and comfortour troubled hearts.
It can grant us sweetmoments of peace.
If you take the time to really see,
The outside is a glorious place.

And how lucky we are that this Paradise,
Is only a few steps away.
Source:https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/the-outside-wondrous-
world
Jesus and the NaturalWorld
by Fr. John Jillions
Christ-creating Dia Logos
Concernfor the environment has become such a standard topic of daily life
that many have become bored with the subject. Despite the bestefforts of
PatriarchBartholomeos, now knownamong environmentalists as "the green
patriarch," it is difficult to find much sustainedgrass-roots enthusiasmamong
the Orthodox for environmental issues. After all, is anyone againstprotecting
the environment? Add to this the scientific and political complexities that
besetenvironmental policy-making, and the tendency of most Orthodox to
focus on personalspirituality rather than socialand ethical issues, it is not
surprising that the environment is not high on the agenda of most Orthodox.
But the question of our relation to the natural world goes much deeper than
the used of plastic coffee cups, recycling and international summits.
Our attitudes to nature and what is "natural" affect our decisions on a host of
issues. Forexample, when should we allow nature to "take its course" and
when should we intervene to prevent it from doing so? Is the world of nature
the ideal from which all other life has fallen? Should we be striving for a

return to nature and natural living? And what exactlyis "natural living"? Is
an agrarian life far from the hustle and bustle of the city the one most suited
to living the Gospel?
Looking at the issue of how we relate to the natural environment raises the
question of how I view what is mine or not mine and my responsibilities
toward each. How do I relate to the world beyond my ownfront door? Many
people spend greatefforts and money in beautifying their own home, but have
little or no sense ofpersonalresponsibility for the surrounding neighborhood
because it's "not mine." On a wider scale, this may mean communities of
people, indeed entire countries, with little sense ofcivic responsibility for
maintaining or beautifying the largercommunity beyond the borders of
"mine" or "ours."
More deeply still, what we think is "natural" affects whatwe think should be
left alone or changed, and our willingness or unwillingness to take steps to
make changes. If we view all events as "natural," we might adopt a fatalistic
attitude that is sometimes characteristicofthe East. Whateverhappens is
"natural," in God's hands alone, so there is little point in taking action. Each
and every tragedy can be met with a shrug of the shoulders and a "that's life"
attitude. The human being is minimally responsible. At the other extreme, if
we take a high view of human intervention, we may be convincedthat there is
almost always something we can do -- or should be able to do as science
advances -- to controlnature. According to this latter view, the human being
is maximally responsible, exceptfor those rare cataclysmic events which are
entirely beyond his control and thus labeledby the insurance industry as
"acts ofGod."
For Christians the first place to go to begin to look for answers to these
questions is to the person of Jesus. His approachto the natural world gives
important guideposts for a Christian response.
In the Gospels we mostoften encounter people who are thoroughly familiar
with country ways. The images Jesus uses in his parables and are for the most
part from the natural world, although he never once uses the word "nature."
And mostly he refers to agriculture rather than nature in the wild.

Yet in one of his few sayings about nature as such Jesus says there is no
human glory that canbegin to match the wonder of the createdworld:
"Considerthe lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet
I tell you, even Solomonin all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Mt
6:28-29)
Jesus spentmuch time out of doors. Gospeltexts reveal that he noticedwhat
was going on around him in the natural world, reflectedupon it, and had
greataffectionfor it. If we take for example just the first chapter of Mark, we
have references to the various natural settings that were so familiar to Jesus.
Nazareth, where he grew up, in the hills of Galilee. The most famous of Jesus'
teaching takes place in the mountains, "the Sermonon the Mount" (Mt 5-7).
Jesus oftenwithdrew to a hill or mountain to pray alone or with his disciples,
and it was in the mountains that Jesus would have seenshepherds guiding
their sheepon narrow mountain paths, carrying the lambs in their arms,
chasing awaywolves. It was in the mountains that Jesus appointedthe twelve
(Mk 3:13), a mountain was the site of the Transfiguration, and his favorite
place in Jerusalemwas outdoors on the Mount of Olives, where he often sat,
taught or prayed, outside the walls of the city opposite the Temple. Here too
was the garden of Gethsemani. It was also on a mountain in Galilee that the
risen Jesus commissionedhis disciples to "go and make disciples of all
nations." (Mt 28:19)
The wilderness around the Jordan river where John was living and baptizing
and where Jesus spent forty days being tempted by Satan (Mk 1:9-12). But
there was also consolationin the midst of temptation, for "he was with the
wild beasts and the angels ministered to him." (Mk 1:13)
The Sea of Galilee (Mk 1:16) where time and againwe find him teaching on
the shore (or out of a boat) or getting into a boat and crossing againto the
other side (e.g. Mk 5:21). Here is the setting for his callof the first disciples,
the fishermen. Here also -- in the GospelofJohn -- is where the risen Jesus
meets for the last time with his disciples as they are fishing, where he makes a
fire, cooks them a breakfastoffresh fish, talks with them on the shore and
tells Peter, "Feedmy sheep" (Jn 21:17). And it was a storm on the Sea of

Galilee that so frightened the disciples, which Jesus calmedwith a word, so
that they wondered"who then is this, that even wind and sea obeyhim." (Mk
4:41)
The countryside (Mk 1:45): so many people flockedto Jesus for healing that
the GospelofMark says he "could no longer enter a town, but was out in the
country, though even there, "people came to him from every quarter." (Mk
1:45) Out in the countryside, walking past the fields and farms of Palestine
Jesus pickedup many of the images that would re-appear in his teaching:the
sowergoing out to sow his seed(Mk 4:3ff), the fields ripe for harvest(Mk
4:29), the vineyard, (Mk 12:1 ff) and fig trees (Mk 13:28ff).
Jesus was immersedin the natural world. But we should not romanticize this.
He also spent much of his time confronting a natural world gone wrong. The
first chapter of Mark also shows this darker side of nature. A madman
shouting and convulsing in the synagogue (Mk 1:23ff); Peter's mother-in-law
lying sick with a fever (Mk 1:30-31);a leper who begs to be healed(Mk
1:40ff); crowds coming to Jesus with their diseasedand demented (Mk 1:32-
34).
The wonder of the natural world remains more glorious than Solomon, but in
Jesus we find no idolizing of nature. Forall the matchless glory of creation,
the Fathercares infinitely more for the human beings he created. "Look at
the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gatherinto barns, and yet
your Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Mt 6:26) This
immediately puts the Christian view of creationand the natural world at odds
with much of secularenvironmentalism for which human beings are just
another species. ForChristians, human beings are the summit of the creation
and have a unique role of care and oversight. More than that, the destiny of
creationis mysteriously linked to human beings, such that St Paul can say,
"We know that the whole creationhas been groaning in travail togetheruntil
now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of
the Spirit, groaninwardly as we awaitfor adoption as sons, the redemption of
our bodies." (Rom 8:22-23)Jesus is less concernedabout nature than about
the redemption of the human race, through which the restof creationwill also

end its "groaning." Jesusdoes not see a natural world independent of the
human world.
Perhaps this is why the most frequent analogiesJesusmakes to the natural
world are from farming, fishing, vineyards and shepherds: human beings
working togetherwith nature, transforming the raw materials of nature into
food and drink and clothing. The images Jesus uses are dominated by a
picture of the environment that shows human beings using, domesticating and
cultivating nature for their own use: mustard seed, yeast, bread, sowing and
seeds, vineyards and vines, new and old wine, sheepand goats, the good
shepherd, the sheepfold, the flock, weeds among the wheat, fishermen, a net
full of fish.
The natural world into which Jesus comes is not the world as it was in the
beginning when all was "very good." Although there is a theologicaldebate as
to whether the first creationwas truly perfector only potentially perfect (with
Church Fathers of differing views), it is clear that much has gone wrong in the
natural world. The desert, for example, is seenas a forbidding, hostile place,
the dwelling place of Satan, the personificationof all that is destructive and
diseasedand opposedto God's purposes in creation. Yet it precisely to the
desertthat Jesus goes firstbefore beginning his public ministry. All that now
keeps the creationgroaning is part of the "bondage to decay" (Rom 8:21)
which we see in the natural world as a kind of infection that St. Paul calls "the
mystery of lawlessness."(2 Th 2:7) In this sense the natural world is no longer
pure and therefore is no longernatural. Here too the Christian view of the
environment must differ from secularenvironmentalists. Jesus neveraccepts
the world as it is as the "natural" world for he never accepts sicknessand
death as "natural." At the tomb of Lazarus he does not tell Martha and Mary
that the sickness,suffering and death of their brother Lazarus was "natural."
No, he weeps atthe tomb because allof this is a terrible deformation of God's
creation. And most people, regardless oftheir view of Jesus, share his view of
death. They weep, because something deepwithin them protests at the loss
and says this ought not to be.
The natural world continues to be a place of ambivalence. On the one hand it
refreshes body and soul. Indeed, an article on pastorallife published in the

Journal of the MoscowPatriarchatein the 1970srecommendedlong walks in
parks and countryside as an essentialingredient for a priest's spiritual health!
At the same time the natural world is a source of suffering and disease andwe
look forward to the time when "creationitselfwill be set free from its bondage
to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God." (Rom 8:21)
We look forward to a "new heaven and a new earth." (Rev 21:1)
Yet it is significant that the New Testament's final image of the Kingdom is no
rural idyll but a bustling city. The kingdom of God is the "new Jerusalem."
(Rev 21:2) This is all the more striking because the city of Jerusalemwas such
a troubling place for Jesus:"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and
stoning those who are sent to you! How often I would have gatheredyour
children togetheras a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would
not!" (Mt 23:38)He was persecutedin the city and stayedawayfor long
periods of time and his disciples were afraid of returning. And their fears
were proved right. After a brief triumphal entry, the city becomes the setting
for Jesus'betrayal, arrest, trials, torture and crucifixion.
But the city was also the place of Christ's resurrection, where as RisenLord
he first appeared to his disciples, where he told the disciples to remain "until
you are clothed with powerfrom on high." (Lk 24:49)
None of us is unfamiliar with the temptations and irritations of cities with
their congestion, traffic, crowds, stress,pollution, politics, corruption and
crime. But throughout history cities have always been the centers of
civilization and culture. The city, like the natural world, needs to be
transfigured and redeemed, not abandoned. And the new Jerusalemis the
image of the redeemed city, of redeemed human culture, the holy city where
there is no mourning, nor crying nor pain (Rev 21:4). In this new Jerusalem,
the city is not cut off from nature, for the river of the water of life runs
through its main street, and the tree of life grows on either side, "with its
twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit eachmonth; and the leaves of the tree
were for the healing of the nations." (Rev 22:1-2)

Fr. John Jillions is Principal of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies,
Cambridge. Forinformation about the Institute, visit their web site:
www.iocs.cam.ac.uk.
The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database.
Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006,2010by Biblesoft, Inc.
All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com
God can always be found in the natural world
Jan 24, 2012
by Sharon Abercrombie
When FranciscanFr. Richard Rohr joined the order in 1961, he learned that
no one in the community was allowedto cut down a tree unless the provincial
gave his permission to do so.
This tradition was a "little bit of Francis that lasted800 years," Rohrsaid,
writing in his daily meditation website last week. Rohris founding director of
the Centerfor Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, N.M.
As the seesaw "we win-youlose" conflictbetweencorporations and
environmentalists continues and our poor planet grows sickerby the day, the

priest's recentcolumns are especiallytimely. They presentus with a concise
overview tracing how we divorced ourselves from the natural world, and with
it, part of our souls.
Rohr reminds us that before 800 B.C., the thinking of the whole planet, no
matter the continent, was tribal, cosmic, mythic and ritualistic. He writes,
"simply by watching the sky, birds and trees, the seasons, darknessandlight,
people knew they belonged. British philosopher Owen Barfield conjectures
they might have had healthier psyches than we do because they lived in an
enchanted universe where everything belonged, including themselves. The
natural cycles ofdarkness and light, death and growth, loss and renewal,
which were everywhere all the time, were their teachers."
Rohr continues: With the progressionofcivilization, "we decided we were
better, smarter and more evolved." Yet before this beganto happen, "most
people were learning of the divine through the natural world. God did not
leave them orphans. They perhaps saw and met God in everything."
Religionin those times was much more about healing and harmonizing.
"Salvationwas not a reward you gotafter you died for goodmoral behavior.
God could be found now and in all things."
Rohr reminds us that Jesus'spirituality was immersed in the natural world:
"Jesus says matterand spirit, divine and human are not enemies, but in fact
are two sides of the same coin. They revealone another and are finally one!
That is the meaning of his two raised fingers in much of Christian art."
The Franciscan'swords led me to the bookcaseformy well-worncopies of
The Hidden Gospeland Prayers of the Cosmos. AmericanSufi scholarSaadi
Neil Douglas-Klotz's amazing researchtakes us to the Aramaic world of
Yeshua (Jesus), a world filled with nature imagery.
Viewed through this ancientlanguage in which he spoke and taught, Klotz
says, Yeshua's wisdom opens up to us a window into the divine universe of his
beloved abba. Klotz bases his translations on the Syriac Aramaic version of
the Gospels,also knownas the Peshitta. It was prepared by the Rev. G.H.
Gwilliam and issued by the ClarendonPress in 1901.

Explains Klotz in Prayers of the Cosmos, "The Aramaic language is close to
the earth, rich in images of planting and harvesting, full of views of the
natural wonder of the cosmos."
"Heaven" in Aramaic -- "Shem" -- ceasesto be a metaphysical conceptand
presents the images of "light and sound shining through all creation," he
writes.
Considerthe third beatitude. It is usually translated from the King James
version of the New Testamentas "Blessedare the meek:for they shall inherit
the earth."
The phonetic Aramaic looks like this: "Tubwayhun l'makikhe d'hinnon
nertun ar'ah."
In Aramaic, Klotz said, the word translatedas "meek" means literally, "those
who have softenedwhat is rigid inside." This softening implies a condition
both inside and outside us. The phrase "inherit the earth" in Aramaic does
not mean to acquire a piece of property -- the word for "inherit" also means
to receive strength, powerand sustenance. The wordfor "earth," "ar'ah,"
can also refer to all of nature as well as to the natural powerthat manifests
through the diversity of beings in the universe.
The word tubwayhun can be translated to mean both "blessed" and"ripe,"
Klotz says.
"So a very plausible open translation of this saying, with the Aramaic nuances
added, might sound like this: Ripe are those who soften what is rigid, inside
and out; they shall be open to receive strength and power -- their natural
inheritance -- from nature."
Klotz's poetic transliteration certainly might be an idea St. Francis of Assisi
would embody wholeheartedly. And indeed, Rohr pays tribute to his order's
founder by saying, "Francis grantedsubjectivity to the natural world. And
when you grant subjectivity to the natural world, everything changes. You
now share mutuality with all things."

What could be more mutual and relationalthan creating a poem naming the
four elements as "Brother Sun," "SisterFire," "BrotherAir" or "Sister
Water"? Rohrwarns us: "Be careful because this [kind of subjectivity] will
change your life! It will turn you into a contemplative individual who
appreciates creationin itself, and for its ownsake, until the end, when there is
only Christ." An authentic believer should be on the frontlines of such, seeing
"that God may be in all," he writes, quoting Corinthians 15:28.
Could we dare imagine what might happen if the barons of business were to
lift up the natural world from the categoryof "object" and honor her as a
beloved "subject"?
At present, this appears to be a long-distant dream. For corporations, there is
no affectionate dubbing of the natural world as beloved brothers and sisters.
Naming is threatening, as we all know, because it implies kinship.
And kinship is too dangerous. In regaining an appreciationand awe for the
original greenof the earth, corporations would lose their green-paper profits.
Kinfolk, if they are loving and caring, do not harm their families -- animal,
vegetable, mineral or human -- with mountaintop coalremoval, tar sands
drilling, fracking for oil or mowing down rainforests for tissue paper and
packaging.
Subjectivity reaches beyond the corporate world to the rest of us, as well. If
we truly are caught up in contemplative love for our earth, basic at-home
issues around automobile use and meat eating must be seriously lookedat.
Rohr traces the split betweenthe natural world and civilization to Plato, the
Greek philosopher. Rohr sees Plato as having had "far more influence on
Christianity up to now than even Jesus oftenhas. Plato positions body and
soul as irreconcilable enemies. Our moral theology, mostof our sexual
teaching, and our lacklusterhistory of Earth Care all show that we too have
not seenmatter and spirit, or body and soul, as friends and as a result, have
been Platonists more than Christians."
Rohr explains that part of the reasonfor this is Paul's unfortunate use of the
word "flesh" in opposition to spirit.

"He would have made his point so much better, so much cleaner, if he had
used the word 'ego'instead. Embodiment is not the problems. Ego is," he
writes.
In her essay"Whatis a Civilization, Anyway?", Cynthia Stokes Brown,
professoremeritus at Dominican University in San Rafael, Calif., compares
the common features sharedby ant societies andhuman societies. Bothhave a
rigid hierarchicalcaste system. They have communication. They have
aggressive warriors and sometimes attack their own species overfoodand
territory.
"Individual ants have relinquished their reproductive roles to the central
queen, making their super-organismpossible," Brownwrites. And
significantly, they have a major effecton their environment, "moving around
as much dirt as earth as earthworms do, enriching the soil."
Then Brown delivers her stunning punch line. It gives us pause, shocking us
into contemplating the consequencesofour actions and choices, presentand
future.
"If all ants died, extinctions would increase;if all humans died, extinctions
would decrease,"she writes.
Is Jesus the Creator?
Question:"Is Jesus the Creator?"
Answer: Genesis 1:1 says that “God createdthe heavens and the earth.” Then,
Colossians 1:16 gives the added detail that God created“allthings” through

Jesus Christ. The plain teaching of Scripture, therefore, is that Jesus is the
Creatorof the universe.
The mystery of the triune God is difficult to understand yet is one of the
doctrines revealedin Scripture. In the Bible, both God the Father and Jesus
are calledShepherd, Judge, and Savior. Both are calledthe PiercedOne—in
the same verse (Zechariah 12:10). Christ is the exactrepresentationof God
the Father, having the same nature (Hebrews 1:3). There is some sense in
which everything the Fatherdoes, the Son and Spirit also do, and vice versa.
They are always in perfectagreementat every moment, and all three equal
only one God (Deuteronomy6:4). Knowing that Christ is Godand has all the
attributes of God aids our understanding of Jesus as the Creator.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God” (John 1:1). There are three important things in this passageabout
Jesus and the Father:1) Jesus was “inthe beginning”—He was present at
creation. Jesus had existedeternally with God. 2) Jesus is distinct from the
Father—He was “with” God. 3) Jesus is the same as God in nature—He “was
God.”
Hebrews 1:2 says, “In these last days he has spokento us by his Son, whom he
appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”
Christ is the agentof God’s creation;the world was created“through” Him.
The Fatherand the Son had two distinct functions in creationyet worked
togetherto bring about the cosmos. Johnsays, “All things were made through
[Jesus], and without [Jesus]was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3,
ESV). The apostle Paulreiterates:“There is but one God, the Father, from
whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus
Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live” (1
Corinthians 8:6).

The Holy Spirit, the third Personofthe Trinity, was also an agent in creation
(Genesis 1:2). Since the Hebrew word for “spirit” is often translated as
“wind” or “breath,” we can see the activity of all three persons of the Trinity
in one verse:“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry
host by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6). After a thorough study of
Scripture, we canconclude that God the Fatheris the Creator(Psalm 102:25),
and He createdthrough Jesus, Godthe Son (Hebrews 1:2).
https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-the-Creator.html
Jesus and Natural Resources
Audience: Individuals Small Group Leaders Youth Church Leaders Adult
Format: Web
Author: Jenny Phillips
Many North Americans are well aware that our lands and waters are being
depleted of the very natural resourcesthat sustain us. We struggle with the
tension betweenconservationand consumerism, not wanting to acknowledge
that our ownconsumption contributes to the depletion of resources.
Managementand dispersalof natural resourceswas anissue in Jesus’day as
well. Jesus calls his followers to live lightly on the earth, not hoarding
resources but instead using only what they need. In this way, all people and all
of creationcan continue to flourish.
“Don’t be greedy! Owning a lot of things won’t make your life safe” (Luke
12:15, CEV).
Jesus taught that there is no security in material things. Safetycomes not
through storing up resources, but rather through relying on God’s provision

for all of creation. The Parable of the Rich Foolexplains this point: a rich
man’s farm produced a bumper crop one year, yielding so much grain that
the man didn’t have space to store it. He tore down his barns to build bigger
ones so that he could store the grain, relax, and live off his savings. But God
said, “You fool! Tonight you will die. Then who will get what you have stored
up?”(Luke 12:20, CEV). This parable suggests thatresources, whenthey are
available, are to be distributed rather than hoarded (Luke 12:13-21).
“Don’t worry about having something to eator wear… Look at the crows!
They don’t plant or harvest, and they don’t have storehouses orbarns. But
God takes care ofthem” (Luke 12:22-24, CEV). Jesus continues his teaching,
challenging people to have faith in God’s provision for them just as plants and
animals do (Luke 12:22-31, Matthew 6:25-34). The bottom line: “Don’t keep
worrying about having something to eat or drink… Your Father knows what
you need. But put God’s work first, and these things will be yours as well”
(Luke 12:29-31, CEV).
These lessonsnot only teachwhat we should not do; they also teachwhat we
should do: put God’s work first, and our needs will be filled. The whole earth
is interconnected, and humans must support one another and respectthe
needs of the rest of creation.
In the first instructions given to humans, we are told to rule the creation
(Genesis 1:28), and to take care of and look after the Garden of Eden (Genesis
2:15). To rule the creationis to be a wise and benevolent ruler, looking out for
the welfare of all parts of the earth. To take care of the gardenis to help it
flourish while providing food for people and animals. It is clearthat
discerning ways to balance the use of natural resources in a sustainable wayis
God’s work.
“The kingdom is also like what happened when a man went awayand put his
three servants in charge of all he owned” (Matthew 25:14, CEV). God created
a world in which life canflourish, and entrusted humans with its care. The
apocalyptic story often known as the Parable of the Talents, or A Story about
Three Servants (Matthew 25:14-30;cf. “A Story about Ten Servants” in Luke
19:11-27)is an allegoryfor our temporary stewardshipof the createdworld.

In the story, a masterputs his servants in charge of all he owns, giving eachof
them money to keepwhile he is away. Two servants invest and grow the
money, while the third hides the money in the ground, not helping it to grow
at all. The master praises the first two servants, and banishes the third.
Likewise, Jesussuggeststhat humans are calledto do more than simply
conserve God’s resources—rather, they are to help them flourish and increase
(Matthew 25:14-30). People offaith must fully commit themselves to caring
for the land and helping all of creationto flourish until the master returns.
Looking at the Text
Readabout God’s provision for creationin Luke 12:22-31 and Matthew 6:25-
34. How do you feel about these passages?Are they reassuring, troubling, or
something else?
Read“A Story about Three Servants” in Matthew 25:14-30 (cf. Luke 19:11-
27). If the money in the story represents the resourcesofthe createdworld,
what are the implications for our current economic systems?
Looking at Our World
Some Christians believe that God gave us the creationto use as we wish,
without regardfor the impact of human activity upon natural ecosystems.
They think that because we are called to focus our attention upon God’s realm
this world is of little importance. What are the implications of this mindset for
the environment? How does environmental degradationhurt humans,
particularly the poor?
Jenny Phillips writes resourcesfor outdoor ministries and churches. She has a
Masterof Divinity from Union TheologicalSeminaryin New York, NY.
Jesus and Nature

Sep
2016
During His ministry Jesus lived to a greatdegree an outdoor life. His journeys
from place to place were made on foot, and much of His teaching was given in
the open air. In training His disciples He often withdrew from the confusionof
the city to the quiet of the fields, as more in harmony with the lessons of
simplicity, faith, and self-abnegationHe desired to teachthem. It was beneath
the sheltering trees of the mountainside, but a little distance from the Sea of
Galilee, that the Twelve were calledto the apostolate andthe Sermonon the
Mount was given.
Christ loved to gatherthe people about Him under the blue heavens, on some
grassyhillside, or on the beach beside the lake. Here, surrounded by the
works of His own creation, He could turn their thoughts from the artificial to
the natural. In the growth and development of nature were revealedthe
principles of His kingdom. As men should lift their eyes to the hills of Godand
behold the wonderful works of His hand, they could learn precious lessons of
divine truth. In future days the lessons ofthe divine Teacherwouldthus be
repeatedto them by the things of nature. The mind would be uplifted and the
heart would find rest. All who are under the training of God need the quiet
hour for communion with their own hearts, with nature, and with God. (EG
WHITE – MH)
The Rose ofSharon, and the Lily of the Valleys
G. Calthrop, M. A.
Songs 2:1
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

Jesus was a lover of nature's beauty

Jesus was a lover of nature's beauty

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