How God Reveals Himself to us in the Natural World
I take great pleasure in observing signs of God’s greatness in the natural world and wanted to share some of my views with you.
So I have set out a five-day summer special highlighting ways in which we can draw closer to God through the natural world, and what better time to explore this than in the height of summer?
I discovered a delightful true story published some time ago about a little girl called Lulu who wrote a letter to God, asking who invented him, and found out because her father thought it best to put this question to Archbishop Rowan Williams, who kindly responded saying;
Dear Lulu, nobody invented me, but lots of people discovered me and were quite surprised. They discovered me when they looked round at the world and thought it was really beautiful or really mysterious and wondered where it came from.
They discovered me when they were very quiet on their own and felt a sort of peace and love they had not expected. Then they invented ideas about me, some of them sensible and some of them not very sensible. From time to time, I sent them some hints, especially in the life of Jesus, to help them get closer to what I am really like. Signed, Archbishop Rowan.
I will be looking at this subject more deeply in this short summer series, exploring how we can find the mysterious and beautiful God the Archbishop refers to in the natural world all around us. We can do this by looking at the world’s order and beauty, applying human reasoning to this, and reflecting on the scriptures that told of the life and work of Jesus.
I hope you will join me as I scratch the surface of this fascinating subject over the next four days.
Read more in Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5 of Finding God in the Natural World
Psalm 104 NIV
10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens human hearts,
oil to make their faces shine,
and bread that sustains their hearts.
16 The trees of the Lord are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the junipers.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.
Read the full psalm describing the wonder of God’s creation;
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