"In your hand are the caverns of the earth; and the heights of the hills are yours also. The sea is yours, for you made it, and your hands have molded the dry land. Come, let us bow down and bend the knee, and kneel before the Lord our Maker. For you are our God, and we are the people of your pasture, and the sheep of your hand. Oh, that today we would hearken to your voice!"
(Psalm 95: 4-7)
If you pray Morning Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, you may have this Psalm memorized. Verses 1-7 are often said at the beginning of the service. It always makes my heart leap a little. When I am out hiking, or at the shore, these words will come to mind. Maybe it sticks with me so much because it was imprinted in some way on my heart when I was young, and our church had a Viking week...not sure if it was Vacation Bible School or something else (mom, help me out here!). My brother and I still can sing a couple of the songs. One goes like this:
"He owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
the wealth in every mine.
He owns the rivers and the rocks and the rills,
The sun and the stars that shine.
Wonderful riches more than time can tell,
He is my father so they're mine as well.
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
I know that he will care for me!"
From where I am now on my spiritual journey, I might rewrite this to be gender-neutral and take out the idea of "ownership," but the point is that when we consider creation we cannot help but worship the creator and know that we are cared for more than we can imagine. It is mind-blowing. From mountains to oceans, from deserts to rainforests, from the tiniest alpine flowers to giant magnolias, from scurrying insects to lumbering elephants, from plankton to blue whales and everything in between, creation is a marvel. And we are part of it.
The psalmist makes a different turn than whoever wrote the Viking song, which speaks to how much we are cared for. The psalmist takes it a step further. "Let us bow down and bend the knee...Oh, that today we would hearken to your voice!" Today. Every day. Let us listen for the voice of God in creation and in our fellow creatures. Let us hear how completely we are loved, and let us turn and love others.
