SCRIPTURE: Psalm 65
“The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.”
Can you feel the awe, the mystery, the depth of wonder and beauty within every thing?
A stone, a firefly, a lightning bolt, a shimmering lake, an eye, a loving embrace, a dew drop, a sunrise…
Every moment of the day, every square inch of the universe, sunrise to sunset, east to west.
Everything, everywhere, everyone, all the time – the glimmer of God’s touch is evident.
I am not one for poetry, but this is one poem I remember from high school:

God’s Grandeur — Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89)

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.    
  It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;    
  It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil    
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?    
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
  And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;    
  And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil    
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.    
 
And for all this, nature is never spent;    
  There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went    
  Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—    
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent    
  World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.   

Why do we not reck (recognize) His rod (rule)… because we have trampled it, seared and bleared and smeared it.
We are blinded by our own activity, toil, busyness, accomplishments, our shoes keep us from sensing holy ground – ‘nor can foot feel, being shod.’
Makes me think of the beauty of Myrtle Beach, with miles and miles of ugly manmade buildings smearing the landscape.
Or how did Joni Mitchell put it – we pave paradise, put up a parking lot!
God’s creation calls forth songs of joy, but no one shows up for choir practice.
What will you see today, but not see?
Where will God’s glory be evident today, but I will miss it?
Where will a song of praise bubble in my heart, but I will silence it?
Where will the Spirit brood in your spirit with dearest freshness, but you will watch TV…
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Praise awaits you God, but please help me not to keep you waiting. May I see Your grandeur today, may I remove my shoes and feel and worship You in awe. May I show up for choir practice!