God's Interest

I happened upon this box turtle on a stroll with God through Busey Woods and it struck me for the first time-- God's interest in what Adam would call the animals He had created (Gen. 2:19)-- His interest in Adam, His interest in Adam's reaction to what He had made. Amazing! Why does God even care about such things? He is God. He doesn't need Adam's (or our!) thumbs up or thumbs down, yet He invites him into the pleasure of His creative work, and cares about our response. Get out there and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! God takes pleasure in your enjoyment of His creation!

(from Facebook, originally posted September 25, 2011 at 11:46am)

Fleeting Beauty

The butterfly in this image struck me with the thought that so much of the beauty and things we pursue in this life are fleeting, momentary, "dust in the wind." In fact, in my youth it was my dream to add a tiger swallowtail to my very small butterfly collection. I finally managed to capture one on a cub scout campout. I was elated. Then on the car ride home it blew off the back shelf of the car where I had so carefully placed it and it got destroyed. An early lesson in the temporary nature of the prizes this world has to offer.

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be."

Matthew 6:19-21

When Do I Want to be out in the Woods?

When do I want to be out in the woods?
When they're dripping and wet from the dew or a rain
and the sun slants low through the trees.
When the wildflowers have begun to appear and some have started to bloom.

When do I want to be out in the woods?
When it's vibrant and peaceful, full of color and joy,
When the trees clap their hands and the songbirds rejoice,
When life is aflutter all mindless of me as I pass through and watch all amazed.

"Here is the ocean, vast and wide..."

... still more thoughts on Psalm 104

O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.

Here is the ocean, vast and wide,
teeming with life of every kind,
both large and small.

Psalm 104:24-25

I spent a day this week with my two youngest sons at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, and of course could not help thinking about (and talking about) Psalm 104!  32,600 animals there they tell us (I didn't count) and each one unique and amazing, many of them downright unbelievable. You could obviously spend years in a place like that and never soak it all in -- you'd just barely be scratching under the surface (puns intended -- sorry). Moving through the place with my sons (10 and 12) I didn't learn as much as I'd have liked (or move as fast as they would have liked) but I was able to marvel at the creativity and wisdom of our God. I only had my iPhone with me as a camera, but even with my "good" camera, it would have been very hard to begin to do justice to these fantastic and amazing creatures, and their Creator. All I can say is, if you have a good Aquarium near where you live, get out there and prepare to be amazed.  God really covered all the bases.