Saturday 22 September 2018

Thoughts about nature


I see nature everywhere. In our Borough I see superb flower beds maintained by the Council. My own garden is a lovely sight. The leaves of the trees beside our roads are changing from green to copper and gold. I see birds and insects filling the air. I see cats and foxes. The hills surrounding our town attract our attention because their loveliness is so compelling. Each time I see exceptional beauty.
     Science looks at nature and helps explain it, and the ways in which the infinite species we see are interconnected: we eat birds; birds eat insects; insects pollinate plants; and all of us eat plants. But science cannot always explain why the nature we see excites us. To do that, we need to look at the cause of nature, and the God who creates it and sustains it.
      We celebrate our harvest festival later this month on 7 October. At first sight the festival is losing its relevance: we can’t sing the old hymns such as, ‘We plough the fields and scatter’ as our ancestors did, because we neither plough nor scatter. We go to a supermarket instead. But we can look closely at the way God sustains and sponsors the creation around us, and then worship Him.
      If we look at creation and enjoy it, we will feel a greater sense of fulfilment and joy. But if we look for God in creation and consciously use the sights of creation as fuel for our worship, we will find our spiritual lives growing in depth and width.

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