"All Things Bright and Beautiful"
And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. (Genesis 1:9-13 NIV)
One of the first songs that I remember singing in the cherub choir as a small child was “All Things Bright and Beautiful.” Here is the refrain:
All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small.
All things wise and wonderful; the Lord God made them all…
It is still one of my heart songs. It isn’t my favorite musically. The words are not the most poetic, but it often comes to me in my practice of gratitude. The other evening, we arrived home around dinner time after being gone for several days. The contents of my vegetable drawer were brown and desiccated. I went out to the yard. The tatsoi and arugula were abundantly available. The raspberry bushes were heavy with berries.
The ripe fruits in the garden, God made them everyone.
As I picked fresh food from my small garden, I thought, “I am so grateful God made the salad for dinner tonight. Actually,” I reminded myself, “God always makes dinner – all of it!” As I prepared what I had from garden, pantry and freezer, this lovely hymn from childhood came to my mind and I sang as I prepared dinner.
The last stanza of the hymn, which I don’t remember singing goes:
God gave us eyes to see them and lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty who has made all things well.
Lord God, help me to live in gratitude today for your abundance in all that you have created and shared with me. Help me share as you have shared, telling of your abundant love with my words and my actions. Amen.