Nature

Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something of the sun

which you could never get from reading books.

CS Lewis

Reading books about nature can never satisfy our curiosity for the wild, but only amplify it. No naturalist ever made the grade by scouring dusty old library stacks, but by venturing out of doors in the dewy morning, like a modern day John Muir, to discover something new of God’s gift of earth.

One of the highlights of my life was a trip I took with my late father to Colorado. We were going to see his old friend, and we decided to drive, rather than fly- a good choice. I saw things on that trip I had never imagined, like the midwestern red earth. But most impressive by far was the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. As an easterner, I was accustomed to rolling hills and small mountains, but this was altogether different.

Each morning I would immediately find a window to look at them again, not convinced they were real. Cultivating and renewing this sense of wonder will keep us young in heart, and remind us often of how great a God we serve who could not only conceive of, but create such glorious things!