Earlier this month my family took a drive through the countryside. As we drove along we saw beautiful lush foliage, a huge eagle’s nest, goslings following their parents, delicate lady slippers, and hardy lilac bushes. With the wet and cool weather we have been having this year, everything looked so rich and full – and full of life. June is a beautiful month, when the woods and meadows seem to be bursting forth with the energy of new growth. We looked around and thought, “it is good.”
The newness and vibrancy of June are a little reflection of the newness and vibrancy of the first days of creation. Genesis 1 says that after each day of creation, God looked out over what made that day and saw that it was good. The chapter concludes with this statement after the sixth and final day of active creation, “And God saw everything he had made, and behold, it was very good.” On a beautiful day in June, before the mosquitoes have come out in full force and after the trees have leafed out and the first flowers of spring have bloomed, we, too, can look at the fields and forests and see that it is very good.
In Genesis 2 it says that on the seventh day of creation, God rested from all he had done. In my mind, I see him sitting back and simply enjoying the beauty and vitality of all that he had made like a man sitting back and watching the sunset after a hard day’s work. In Genesis 2 it also says that God blessed and hallowed the seventh day. For the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and the animals on the land it is just another day, but to God and to the human beings he created in his image, it is a day to sit back and reflect on all that God has done for us and give thanks and praise to God. Only the human species is expected to follow the divine example and take time apart for reflection and praise on a weekly basis.
But the wonderful creation God has made is ever singing his praises. Isaiah 44:23 says, “Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, O depth of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it!” And, indeed, the whole creation is always praising its creator. Every flower that blooms in the meadow is part of a bouquet for the Lord. Every bird that sings its morning song is praising the One who said “let there be light.” Even some of those parts of nature that we think less wonderful are singing their creator’s praise. Psalm 148:8 includes “fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command” in its invitation to praise the Lord.
During this beautiful month of June won’t you join in the song of all creation and praise the name of the Lord? The last verse of the last psalm invites us to do just that with the words, “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Hallelujah!”
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