For the Beauty of the Earth

"For Thyself, best gift divine

To our Race so freely given...

Lord of all, to Thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise."

For the Beauty of the Earth is a great old hymn that I have grown up singing. The lyricist wrote it as he reflected on the beauty of nature. For it is true that God has given us such a rich and beautiful pallet to absorb in nature and I feel especially blessed to live in the Midwest where, despite the cold which I don't like, we have to glorious change of seasons.

I probably view nature with the same awe as does a 5-year old boy (since I do have quite a lot of experience with "those guys"). I am mesmerized by the earth's rich and vibrant color, by sunsets, by a clear/still/silent winter night, I am fascinated by snowflakes...each individual one of them. I love leaves, flowers, rocks, butterflies, blades of grass, mud, centipedes, raindrops, worms....coooool....

Really, this is the stuff that I look at and think, "how did God dream that up?"

He must see each sunset and continue to marvel at it...

But do you know what He marvels at even more than the beauty of His earth?

US

I believe that God must think that His own best and most beautiful creation is not the earth, but those of us in it. For He crafted our every cell, every breath, every part of our being and to Him it is good.

WE are the beauty of His earth.

Therefore, it is our job to maintain that beauty. It is our responsibility to preserve His most beautiful creation by honoring Him with our physical, mental and spiritual beauty.

Sometimes we forget what beautiful creations we are! We don't take care of ourselves...we let our minds lapse...we let our spiritual beauty wither...we let our physical beauty take a back seat to everything else...

But God deserves our very best and so do those around us...and we deserve to create the very best versions of ourselves possible. It is our living tribute to God...and He will say, "It is good"!

Question: In what ways are you honoring God by taking care of yourself? Where could you improve?

Following is my favorite quote ever...I think it sums this up perfectly!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant,gorgeous, talented, fabulous?”Actually, who are you not to be?You are a child of God.Your playing small does not serve the world.There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.We are all meant to shine, as children do.We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.As we are liberated from our own fear,our presence automatically liberates others.
-Marianne Williamson