Psalm 19: The Heavens Tell God=s Glory! The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Ai thank you God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirit of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes (i who have died am alive again today, and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay great happening illimitably earth) how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any - lifted from the no of all nothing - human merely being doubt unimaginable You? (now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened)@i This is one of my favorite e.e. cummings poems, one I memorized years ago. It=s

2 one that reminds me of the core sentiment in Psalm 19, echoing the words inscribed in the last of our clerestory windows. Indeed, I wouldn=t be at all surprised to learn that cummings knew of and was inspired by this psalm. After all, his father was a pastor in Boston and a professor at Harvard. Listen as this psalm of David describes how nature gives its testimony to God: AThe heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat.@ The clerestory window we=re examining today is found on your right, the furthest one down toward the Chancel. In the center we have a man pointing upwards to the sun and the moon and the stars overseen by God who has ordered them all. His right hand reaches down to the infant Christ, surrounded by a Trinitarian halo, sitting on the waters of the earth. Notice that his mouth is closed, as the psalmist wrote, AThere is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth.@ In other words, nature speaks no words, but its very design shouts out the glory of God. In the left panel, we see a man kneeling, receiving the rays of the sun. They comes forth like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, representing the laws and decrees of God. He is surrounded by little pots or vessels representing gold, for the psalmist says of God=s instructions, AMore to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold.@ On the bottom of the panel is a bolt of lightning in the midst of a violent storm, a sign of warning, for by God=s laws the psalmist says we are warned from our errors and faults. In the right panel, we have another man also kneeling, receive a double-fold blessing from God. He is surrounded by bee hives, for the psalmist says of God=s commandments, Asweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.@ And at the bottom is a tree laden with all types of fruit, representing the rewards of the righteous, with calm orderly rivers on either side. What is it about nature that turns our thoughts to a creator? What is it about nature that causes our hearts to sing and praise? What is it about nature that awakens the ear of our ears and opens the eye of our eyes, that makes us feel reborn and raised out of a spiritual death?

3 There is some quality about nature that declares the glory of God. There is that about the vault of the skies that gives testimony to the workings of God. It makes us, with the poet, to shout praise saying Ai thank you God for most this amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and a true blue dream of sky, and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes@! Even the Apostle Paul extolled the power of nature to reveal the reality of God. To the Romans he wrote AEver since the creation of the world (God=s) eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made.@ii Hence those powerful words of Meister Eckhart, the 13th century mystic, at the top of our worship bulletin: AWhether you like it or not, whether you know it or not, secretly all nature seeks God and works toward God.@ All such reflections come very naturally to me. My earliest memories are of the land our family lived on just outside of Battle Creek. I remember walking the path through the woods with my dad and of sitting behind a tractor dropping little shoots of trees into the ground, trees which now, after fifty years, are enormous. I remember the liberty I had to wander in the swampy wetlands behind our barn, crossing over the water on trees split by lightning, communing with all types of creatures and critters. I remember the alfalfa fields we had to feed our horses and of the luxurious feeling of lying down in the fields, staring at the skies, before we baled the hay. Ai thank you God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirit of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes.@ I still feel the pain of having I-94 cut a swath through our land cutting us off from most of our acreage. My most formative memories after I turned ten and we moved to 200 acres outside of Hastings with woodlands, lake, streams and pond, and those ever-present hay fields from which we would get three cuttings every summer. There I could wander endlessly in the woods, track the deer, and commune with God in hidden glades no one else ever visited. I remember lying on the lawn in the night staying at the deep field of stars above, surrounded by fireflies that flitted around me like angels with faulty lighting systems. My heart sang: AThe heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims God=s handiwork!@ In her book, Leaving Church, Barbara Brown Taylor writes about her decision to leave the life of an Episcopal parish priest for a new life of teaching and writing. The decision caused Barbara and her husband to move from church-provided housing and find a new place to live. They began looking for a home to buy in the Georgia countryside. His requirement was running water. Hers was being not more than ten miles from town. When they found just the right spot, with oak trees and trillium and elderberry, persimmon and blackberry and milkweed and water, she says, AI found my place on earth.@ Then she shared this reflection: AI know plenty of people who find God most reliably in books, in buildings, and even in other people. I have found God in all of these places too, but the most reliable

4 meeting place for me has always been the creation. I have always known where to go when my own flame was guttering. To lie with my back flat on the fragrant ground is to receive a transfusion of that same power that makes the green blade rise. To remember that I am dirt and to dirt I shall return is to be given my life back again. Where other people see acreage, timber and soil, and river frontage, I see God=s body. The Creator does not live apart from creation. When I take a breath, God=s Holy Spirit enters me.@iii Yes, God is far more than nature. God is far more than just this earth B or universe. Barbara Brown Taylor is well aware of the danger of that type of thinking. But she=s also absolutely right when she says that the Creator does not live apart from creation. God indwells our world. The world is God=s body and everywhere gives its witness to the One who shaped it. There=s another aspect of nature which we often overlook. How or why it works is a mystery, but I=d call it a holy mystery. And it makes this 19th psalm so appropriate for this Labor Day weekend when so many of our people seek to enjoy the last touches of summer. There is a healing and restorative quality to nature. Anne Frank, of all people, caught glimpses of this. Who knows when she opportunity to do this, hidden as she was in closeted areas during World War II. She wrote, AThe best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.@iv Perhaps that=s why, when Jesus saw how destructive his disciples anxieties and fears were, and he wanted to persuade those around him to stop worrying so much about their lives and to trust God=s goodness and mercy, he pointed them to nature saying, AConsider the lilies, they neither toil nor spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.@ And when Jesus wanted his followers to bring God into the equation of their lives, he went to nature and said, AConsider the ravens. They neither sow nor reap, nor have storerooms or barns, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds.@ No doubt it is why, when Jesus invites us to come to his Table and unite with him, he uses symbols which are inextricably wed to nature: the bread ground from wheat in our fields, and wine crushed from the grapes of the world=s vineyards. Bread and wine, the very body and blood of our Lord, which through him declare the glory of God, for all nature declares the handiwork of God. May we pray? Lord God, Ai who have died am alive again today, and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth

5 day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay great happening illimitably earth) how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any - lifted from the no of all nothing - human merely being doubt unimaginable You? (now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened)@ Amen.

i. e.e. cummings, Complete Poems 1904-1962. ii. Romans 1:20. iii. Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church, pp. 79B80. iv. Anne Frank, Only One Earth.