Contemplating God's Creation

CONTEMPLATING CREATION

(Preached at North Mymms October 1998)

In the process of lecturing on Tuesday in St. Albans Abbey and Cathedral Church, I remarked that it was my experience that seafarers are very religious people, though they may well shun the luxury of shore based denominationalism and institutionalized Christianity.

The audience looked surprised, as some of you do today. It is difficult to imagine hardened seafarers being described as "religious".

So I went on to explain that many a seafarer looking up at the vastness of the starlit sky, or out into the far distant horizon, as they have sailed upon the dark unfathomable depths of the ocean far away from the security of land, have had an experience of a power far greater than themselves, which has evoked from them a sense of awe and wonder, besides a sense of fear.

How true are those words of the old Brenton Fisherman's prayer:

"O God,

be good to me

thy sea is so wide

and my ship so small,

have mercy"

In the solitude of the watch and the aloneness of the sea, they have been made aware of their insignificance within the grandeur of the created universe and how they are at the mercy of the elements.

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I too have had similar experiences, not just upon the sea, but upon land.

I well recall driving across the vast outback of North West Australia between Dampier and Port Hedland. The red flat earth interrupted with the occasional pale green shrub and in the far distance the Hamersley Range rising majestic from the earth and reaching up to the heavens, set out against the clear blue sky. The sun beating down upon the road in temperatures in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit causing a mirage.

Driving alone for over 200 miles without seeing another car or person, I found that the scenery had a power to evoke from me a sense of awe and wonder.

It also evoked from me a sense of fear for as one passed over bridges, sometimes a quarter of a mile long, spanning vast dried up river beds, I was reminded that in the cyclone season this land could be awash with water which can so easily sweep one away.

Yes, I too have been aware of my insignificance within the grandeur of the created universe. Perhaps I could rewrite that Fisherman's prayer and say:

“O God

be good to me,

thy land is so vast,

and my car so small,

have mercy."

Or again, walking earlier this year in Snowdonia, I found myself sitting alone for over an hour marvelling at the beauty of the countryside below, yet also aware how bleak and isolated it could be in the winter.

I am sure you too have had similar experiences, maybe in the Lake District, the Peak District, the Highlands of Scotland or the ruggedness of Dartmoor or Exmoor, when an inherent power has evoked from you both a sense of awe and wonder, besides a sense of fear.

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The psalm in the Old Testament declares:

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. (19.1)

How right the psalmist is. The whole created universe reveals the glory and presence of God.

As the very earliest Welsh verse, from probably the ninth century states:

"Almighty Creator, who made all things

The world can express all thy glories,

Even though the grass and the trees should sing".

This sacramental view of creation is something that our Celtic ancestors took very seriously. They lived close to nature and had the time and the space to study and contemplate its variety and beauty. They tended to establish their monasteries, and especially their hermitages, in wild and remote places where the crying sea birds, the barking seals and the buzzing insects were often their only companions.

This longing to live close to nature is found in many of their writings, such as this Irish poem, coming from probably the ninth century:

“I wish, O Son of the Living God,

O Ancient, eternal King,

for a little hut in the wilderness,

that it may be my dwelling.

An all grey lithe little lark

to be by its side

A clear pool to wash my sins away

through the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Quite near a beautiful wood

Around on every side,

To nurse many voiced birds,

Hiding it with shelter.

A southern aspect for warmth

A little brook across its floor,

A choice land with many gracious gifts

Such as be good for every plant".

I am sure many of us would wish to give such a similar description to our estate agent when we are looking for the ideal country cottage - isolated near woods and a stream, and of course facing south to catch the sun.

St. Ninian in his catechism reminds his students that the fruit of all study is "to perceive the eternal word of God reflected in every plant and insect, every bird and animal and every man and woman".

St. Columbanus went further and said "understand the creation if you wish to know the creator........for those who wish to know the great deep must first review the natural world".

This discovering of God through the world of nature is also reflected in this Hebrian poem, recorded by Carmichael at the end of the 19th century:

"There is no plant in the ground

But is full of his virtue,

There is no form in the strand

But is full of his blessing.

There is no life in the sea,

There is no creature in the river,

There is nought in the firmament,

But proclaims his goodness.

There is no bird on the wing,

There is no star in the sky,

There is nothing beneath the sun,

But proclaims his goodness".

Here we come back to my seafarer looking up at the starlit sky or out into the far distant horizon discovering that power outside himself which evokes from him both awe and wonder, but also fear, as he is given a glimpse of God through the created universe.

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The value of natural theology is being discovered in our own age as astronomers and physicists are seen to be pointing to something beautiful and mysterious at the further extremities of space and the very heart of matter. They are helping us to regain something of that sense of awe and wonder with which our ancestors looked at the world about them and gazed up at the heavens. A recovery of the Celtic ability to find God's love and glory reflected through the natural world is essential, I believe, if we are to save our planet from environmental destruction.

But what does this mean for us who are not seafarers, astronomers or physicists, and who live in an urban environment where the stars at night are obliterated by the glare of neon lighting and where the only greenery to be found is in parks and cemeteries within our concrete urban jungles?

We in South Hertfordshire are blessed by having easy access to magnificent countryside right on our doorstep. Do we take full advantage of the many public footpaths that open up that countryside by going for country walks, especially as part of our drawing close to God, and discovering more about him on a Sunday?

This not a hint that my Labrador puppy needs volunteers to walk him, but rather an invitation to discover God as revealed through the natural world.

But, one word of caution, you will not discover him if you are in a mad rush.

My plea today is for you to give yourselves time and space to contemplate the God who reveals himself through the natural world, and to allow yourselves to respond to his presence within it.