creature praise

thanks to Dean Ohlman of The Wonder of Creation for this poignant reminder of our calling to join God's creatures in worshiping our mutual Creator ...

I’m not sure how many churches today still incorporate in their worship the traditional “Doxology” sung to the tune of the “Old Hundredth.”  It was so common in the past and familiar enough now that in almost any crowd gathered anywhere in the English-speaking world, if you started singing it, you’d likely be joined by the majority—much like the singing of “Amazing Grace.”  I’ve always loved it:

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special attachments

valuable insight from Liz Jakimow of God and Gum Nuts into the natural attachments we form with certain parts of God's creation, even certain animals, and how God can use them for an even greater good ...

Today I read an article ("Koalas, People and Climate Change: Not a Good Mix," by Christine Adams-Hosking) that told me that the koala is highly vulnerable to climate change.  This is according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which places it in a list of only 10 species in the world.

I visit a lot of environmental sites and read a lot of environmental newsletters.  So I'm used to hearing bad news.  But this article hit me in a way few other articles have.

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wonderbird

from Dean Ohlman of The Wonder of Creation ...  

God alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.  He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.  He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. (Job 9:8-10, NIV)

The first time I remember seeing it, I could hardly believe my eyes—truly.  It was on a visit to Yellowstone about 5 years after the great fires of 1988. 

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"the sparrow" by George MacDonald

Such an eloquent tribute to the Creator's "birds of the air" from beloved 19th century Scottish author George MacDonald, who pays special attention to the humble sparrow in the closing stanzas ...

O Lord, I cannot but believe
The birds do sing thy praises then, when they sing to one another,
And they are lying seed-sown land when the winter makes them grieve,
Their little bosoms breeding songs for the summer to unsmother!

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a drop in the bucket

Thanks to Chuck Summers of Seeing Creation for this great reminder of the incredible "vastness and variety" of God's creation and creatures ...

In Psalm 104 the Psalmist declares “How many are your works, O Lord!  In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” (v. 24, NIV)  Elsewhere in this psalm the biblical writer mentions a number of creatures.  He refers to “wild donkeys,” “birds of the air,” “the cattle,” “the stork,” “wild goats,” “the coneys,” “the beasts of the forest,” “lions,” and “leviathan.”  He also mentions other aspects of God’s Creation: the clouds, the wind, the mountains, springs, grass, trees, the moon, the sun, the forest, and the sea.  Without a doubt, the Psalmist recognized all of Creation to be God’s wonderful handiwork and a manifestation of His wisdom.  God’s Creation is seen as a reason for joyful praise.

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let heaven and nature sing

Thank you to pastor Chuck Summers of Seeing Creation for allowing us to share this meaningful Advent reflection accompanied beautifully by some of Chuck's photography ...

It’s the third Sunday in Advent and since the theme for this Sunday is joy we sang “Joy to the World!” at church this morning.  This has to be one of the most familiar and popular of all Christmas hymns.  I have enjoyed singing this song since my childhood.  Even as a kid I particularly liked the part that says, “let heaven and nature sing.”  What I didn’t realize back then is that the idea of heaven and nature singing comes straight out of the Bible.

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does wildlife need our management?

One of our community members Jenny Sue Hane has been following the recent wolf hunting developments closely, and even organized an exemplary rally in opposition to them.  This is the first part of a thoughtful post she wrote for us on taking a genuinely Christian approach to wildlife management ...

Here in the US, where I live, state game agencies are in the business of managing wildlife.  This includes issuing a number of permits to hunters every year, even for creatures that are not typically eaten and bear many similarities to domestic companion animals.  Some of the arguments for the hunting of non-food animals focus on their supposed conflicts with people and their livestock, which may be greatly overstated.  But once those are out of the way, there is another argument that the trophy hunters fall back on: the “animals need to be managed” argument. 

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embracing diversity

I'm grateful to introduce a new and multi-gifted voice to our blog in Chuck Summers, a pastor and nature photographer based in eastern Kentucky.  Following is "Embracing Diversity" from Seeing Creation, a compelling blog which he co-hosts with fellow photographer Rob Sheppard ...

“How many are your works, O Lord!” (Psalm 104:24)

We truly do live in a remarkable and diverse world.  I did a few Google searches and discovered that there are an estimated 1.5 million different plant and animal species in the world today.  There are over 10,000 different species of birds and an incredible 900,000 different species of insects.  The various species of flowering plants number around 400,000.  There are 25,000 different kinds of cherries and 264 different kinds of monkeys.  The estimated number of different trees is in the tens of thousands.

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the interloper

"The Interloper" is a poignant poem contemplating the relationship of wildlife to God and to ourselves from Ben Witherington, a respected evangelical scholar and author, and professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary ...

On lime stones we’d laid
The chipmunk sat erect
His beady brown eye watched me
Wondering what to expect

While he devoured a nut
His teeth worked at warp speed
He sat oh so still
Satisfying his need.

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creation care, chronic pain and a plants-based diet

Here is one last personal reflection, and a thoughtful and nuanced one at that, in our series on veganism (see the introduction and motivation) from a regular contributor to not one sparrow, Lauren Merritt of The Christian and Creation: Glorifying the Creator ...

Six years ago, concern about eating animal products was not on my radar.

I was a division-one college swimmer, busy burning thousands of calories every day and scarfing them all back down in the form of dining hall hamburgers, pizza, and ice cream.  My body paid my way through the first two years of college, doing its time in the pool and weight room.  But it didn’t hold up under the strain of training and began to break down. 

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