The grandeur of creation reminds us of God’s glory. Trees older than countries, canyons deeper than rivers speak of the power and majesty of the God who created them. Birds tiny enough to perch upon a blade of grass and the God who knows each time they touch the ground remind us that God has intimate acquaintance with our footfalls. The prehistoric-looking sturgeon and the brightly colored tree frog received life from a God who values diversity.
How can we, the ones created in God’s image and likeness, also be the ones guilty of diminishing the spectacular beauty of creation? Have we become so preoccupied with the sight of our own faces in the reflecting pool that we missed the face of beauty around us? Or, worse, did we become preoccupied with taming that which God created to testify?
The glorious words of the psalmist bring to mind the stark realism of nineteenth-century poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins:
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears [humanity’s] smudge and shares [humanity’s] smell: the soil is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent.
Despite our misuse, the earth continues to be a beautiful and glorious place. Professional photographers still vie with one another to offer testimony through one breathtaking photo after another, while amateurs strive for one clear picture of a hummingbird in flight! How glorious is God’s creation! “May the glory of the Lord endure forever.”