Finding Faith in Nature

I have often wondered about the church, “God, couldn’t you have done a better job than this? Couldn’t you have suppressed hypocrisy more, allowed division and disunity less, edited (or prohibited) late-night religious television more, inspired better music and shorter sermons?” And the answer comes to mind: “Yes, but there would be no room for people like you.” ~ Brian McLaren, Finding Faith

Who do you thank at the gate of the dawn as the hounds of the night back away?
Who do you thank for the morning’s new song, sung by birds as they play?
Who do you thank for the sermon of the sun
Preaching the hope of a new day begun,
Testifying that love’s light has won?
Who do you thank for this kingdom come?
Who do you thank for this mural of life,
The savor of senses sharp as a knife,
The privilege of poignant, the honor of right?
Who do you thank for delight?
Who do you thank for the treasure of home, wrapped in the real of routine,
The blessing of knowing your own flesh and bone, and watching them wake from your dream?
Who do you thank for the structure of souls,
Tied to each other from infant to old,
Beauty so human, so holy to hold?
Who do you thank for such gold?
~ Brian McLaren, Mercy in the Maze

I love to see your high white clouds sailing, Lord,
Like a fleet of mighty galleons on the blue,
And watch white seagulls dive and glide among them.
Your Majesty, they make me think of You…

The rhythm and the roar of ocean breakers,
Like great dark pages they turned as the tide withdrew.
They curled and they crashed and they pounded the surf in the white foam.
Your Majesty, they make me think of You…

I love to watch the dark gray clouds as a storm’s approaching,
And see the willow branches sway as the wind blows through…
See the flashes of lightning, hear the rumbling of Your thunder.
Your Majesty, they make me think of You…

Upon a tall and mighty mountain, with a valley spread below,
I lean into a strong fast breeze and deep inside I know
That all of creation joins in majestic declaration, from a single leaf and flower of clover to a burning yellow star to show,
Your Majesty, how wonderful You are!

Your salmon spawn after fighting up fast river currents.
Your geese migrate each season as you taught them to.
Your great sea turtles return to the beach of their birth.
Your Majesty, they make me think of You…
~ Brian McLaren, Your Majesty

There’s a farm that I know, as a child I would go, and run in its fields below.
Near a barn on a hill stood an old windmill, and in the afternoon sun it would glow…
With the glory of God, the glory of God, the glory of God shining through.
And I pray for you that you’ll see it too, for this life is a search for the glory of God…

There are people I’ve met whom I’ll never forget, full of laughter, some young and some old.
Sometimes on a face, this mysterious grace seems to smile out and shine out like gold.
It’s the glory of God, the glory of God, the glory of God shining through.
And I pray for you that you’ll see it too, for this life is a search for the glory of God…

There are moments that come like a gift from someone who loves you, but you hardly know.
They bring a tear to the cheek, and a catch when you speak, and the meaning you seek seems to flow…
With the glory of God, the glory of God, the glory of God shining through.
And I pray for you that you’ll see it too, for this life is a search for the glory of God…
~ Brian McLaren, The Glory of God

If you tell me that God created the earth ‘by hand’ in six days some thousands of years ago, I’m impressed. If you tell me instead that God set a whole cosmos in motion some billions of years ago, a cosmos perfectly calibrated within the narrowest of margins to produce at least one planet where life would be developed through cause-effect chains that were designed into it by a purposeful Designer… I’m no less impressed; in fact, I may be even more impressed. ~ Brian McLaren, Finding Faith

After all, it’s only the dead butterflies that you can put on pins and display in glass cases. Live ones require you to enjoy their beauty in quick, stolen glances, iridescent here on this clover, swaying there on that goldenrod, pausing there for a few moments for a drink beside that puddle, soon up again dazzling and skipping along on the breeze. Similarly, lightning can’t be captured in a bottle; the wind can’t be conveyed via propositions; springtime can’t be unleashed on demand. I have found Jesus to have the same elusive but blazing vibrancy and reality. This is why I have come to believe in God as I have, and why I believe in Jesus. ~ Brian McLaren, Finding Faith

When we came over the rise where the sea and land opened up to us, I stood in stunned silence and then slowly walked toward the waves. Words cannot capture the view that confronted me. I saw space and light and texture and color and power… that seemed hardly of this earth. Gradually there crept into my mind the realization that God sees this all the time. He sees it, experiences it, knows it from every possible point of view, this and billions of other worlds. Great tidal waves of joy must constantly wash through his being. It is perhaps strange to say, but suddenly I was extremely happy for God and thought I had some sense of what an infinitely joyous consciousness he is and of what it might have meant for him to look at his creation and find it ‘very good’… he is simply one great inexhaustible and eternal experience of all that is good and true and beautiful and right. This is what we must think of when we hear theologians and philosophers speak of him as a perfect being. This is his life.
~Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy

I finally finished Brian McLaren’s ‘Finding Faith’. Like me, He enjoys experiencing God through nature. His reflections on nature and life are so beautiful that I wish there could be more books written on this topic. He just makes me want to go out into the wild again so that I can search for the glory of God in those places. Maybe this is why I want to go to Antarctica so much. I ache for the loneliness of its icy wilderness. I miss the stars, the grass, the trees and the sea. I see so much beauty in creation. I wonder when will be the next time I can savor it. Maybe this beauty is all around me. It’s just that I have forgotten to take the time to notice it. I made it a point to get hold of one of the books he recommended, ‘Pilgrim at Tinker Creek’ by Annie Dillard.