The wonder of nature
Writing about how to observe nature has reminded me how the beauty of nature makes me think of God. Specifically, it reminds me how good He is.
God has designed His creation with such beauty and mystery and created us to be able to marvel and explore it. Maybe He could have made nature strictly practical, but He made it for us, and it is so wonderful that it’s hard to doubt how great and loving God is.
Recently when I’ve been down about the horrible state of the world or stressed about overwhelming personal matters, taking in nature has revived me.
On a full moon night, I was walking on the beach. Seeing the sea turn to rippling silver and marveling at the power of the surf and the phenomenon of moon shadows, I was flooded with a feeling of optimism. If God could bother to make creation so beautiful, life was still good despite all the messes people make.
Another time, my family and I were flying paper airplanes off a steep hill in the golden light on an August evening. I was suddenly hit with the fact that people have been enjoying August evenings for thousands of years. Maybe, they just sat with their family after a hard day in the fields. Or maybe they threw a party to celebrate the first harvest. But I felt wonderfully connected to the past and decided we people in the present have everything in common with the people of the past. God made us all the same. It was very comforting to feel that connection with God and the past.
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