Day 27 of Lent: We Serve God by "Considering the Lillies"

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.  Matthew 6: 28-29

The world of nature fills our lives with beauty.  Each morning we can see the sunrise, the birds and flowers, the pastures full of new life.  Martin Luther asserted that the lilies of the field and the birds of the air are God's teachers to anxious human beings.  Utterly dependent on forces beyond their control, the birds of the air trust God to supply their needs.

God reveals beauty and care in all things.  Divine care will provide for our deepest needs for today and tomorrow.  The simple wonders of creation are gifts of God that we can neither control nor enhance.  They simply invite us to wonder and appreciation and reverence for them.

The faithful day by day rising and setting of the sun do not require our planning.  The ever present fidelity of God invites us to nurture ourselves in the glories of creation even as we bring healing and justice to the earth.

Our native American brothers and sisters prayed this prayer:

I walk with beauty before me.
I walk with beauty behind me.
I walk with beauty above me.
I walk with beauty below me.
I walk with beauty all around me.
Your world is so beautiful, O God.

May that prayer be our affirmation that we too see God's beauty all around us.

Prayer:
O God, the great Artist of all, whose beauty bathes our senses, let our days be filled with wonder and gratitude, and let all the beauty we experience inspire us to acts of loving beauty to all creation.  Amen.