“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life....see how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field...will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'....But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6: 25....33)

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“Delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness...” (Isaiah 61: 10)

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We have all experienced times when we have stood arrested in awe by the silent splendor and Beauty of nature. The way that sunlight can play on and through the delicately ordered designs and contours of nature can, for instance, create in us an attitude of wonder and gratitude. Sometimes these experiences may even prompt in us an attitude of reverence and worship. Regretfully, however, such times are few and far between for most of us. Usually we are far too preoccupied with the pressurized busy-ness of our hectic, gadget-filled lives to notice such things as “natural beauty”. Who has time for contemplation, after all, when we are ceaselessly bombarded by so much man-made media enticement, entertainment and advertising? Who has time for reflection when all the twittering iPads and iPods so urgently crowd into our lives? Who has time for communion or meditation when so many flickering electronic screens so effectively jockey for our attention and then joylessly steal our affections? Who has the time for honest soul- searching or sincere prayer in this new age daze of frenzied global texting? Who can find the time for simple solitude and silence in this tired-wired, sound-byte world of way-too-much information?

Indeed, how can we find the time to pray with such insistent and persistent clamoring around us,... when there's just so much to do and so much to worry about?

In Chapter 6 of the Gospel of Matthew, we are told that Jesus spoke to a crowd of people seated in a field outside the city overlooking the Sea of Galilee in what has come to be known as “The Sermon on the Mount”)....In this discourse, I am persuaded that the Messiah tells us how we may begin to find true peace, true rest, true joy and true delight: He simply advises his listeners to look at the grass, look at the birds, look at the fields and flowers.

Slow down. Go outside. Be quiet. Examine. Seek.

( Lord, help us......)

“We live.... in a world starved for solitude, silence and privacy and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.” --CS Lewis

“God's power, goodness and skill are displayed in the beauty, balance, intricacy and intelligibility of the universe...” --John Stott

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“Blot Out This Idol Chatter...”

Lord, we've wrapped ourselves in worry...
Give us Grace...Please, help us see.
Teach us of the Hope of Glory
In your silent Majesty.

Walk with us through field and valley;
Woo us with Creation's song.
In your quiet Light of Wisdom...
Show us, Lord, where we've been wrong.

If You're hidden in these grasses,
Grant us Grace to seek and find.
Show us how Lord, in your Nature,
You may touch and heal the blind.

In reflection, Lord, direct us...
Teach us how to ask and pray.
On the silent Path of Beauty,
Lord, reveal to us The Way.

Please blot out this idol chatter
And the clamor here below!.
Guide us , Lord, to silent splendor.
Show us how the lilies grow.

Cleanse us through your Word delivered...
Heaven's Gift to one and all.
Shelter us in quiet Wonder;
Where we may hear Calv'ry's Call.

O, Lord, please draw near to free us
From the frenzied fowler's snare.
By your Grace please help us know You,
In this Kingdom of the Air.

Take us from these rags to riches!
And through Faith, to Sabbath Rest...
Father, take us to the wedding...
Clothe us in your Righteousness.

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“Nature is a parable, that in its structure, orderliness, beauty and design points beyond itself to its Creator...” -David Wells

"The earth is the LORD's, and
everything in it,
the world and all who live in it;
for he founded it upon the seas
and established upon the
waters.....

Lift up your heads, O you gates...
...that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty---
he is the King of glory."

(Psalm 24: 1,2...9,10)