Yesterday Bob and I went out for the day to celebrate our 52nd wedding anniversary. Wow…. I can’t believe we have been married for 5 decades and more! We both know how fortunate we are. The weather yesterday was questionable. We made the decision to go to Bear Mountain and walk around the lake. We wanted to be outside and enjoy nature after this extremely hot summer keeping us inside. Well, we were determined to do this day trip and started out after lunch and rain into rain, so we changed our plans and decided to go to the movies. Now indoor movies put Bob right to sleep so he wasn’t happy about this and continued driving thru the rain on the Palisades Parkway to go to Bear Mountain. I was along for the ride (as I have been for 52 years). We made it thru the rain and it wasn’t raining at Bear Mountain. It was cloudy and humid. We went to the top of Bear Mountain, driving up to Perkins Tower which has amazing views. I hadn’t been there in years and forgot about the views of mountains in all directions. Again, as I often do when out in nature, I thanked God for his beautiful world. Standing on the top of the mountain reminded me of how small we all are in this world that God made, but he loves each one of us. Individually, whether we are on top of the mountain enjoying His world or sitting in an office working. It doesn’t matter where we are, He still loves each one of us. We then went down and walked around the lake and enjoyed being outside and seeing families having BBQ and playing games on the shoreline of the lake. While walking and almost at the end we heard thunder and decided to call it a day. Just as we got into the car the first raindrops fell. They say timing is everything. We drove through another downpour heading home. The roads were flooded and everyone was going slow. After going out for dinner at a restaurant near home, we both talked about how much we enjoyed the day together and going out somewhere we hadn’t been in a while. I can see a lot of Bear Mountain trips in our future, especially in the fall, but I think the plans will be made depending on the weather. The day was great, the rides not so great. One of my favorite hymns, and I am sure many people's favorite, when I think of nature is “This is My Fathers World”. I may use it often in my musings but the words are perfect for so many things. This hymn was written by Maltbie. D. Babcock. When Rev. Babcock lived in Lockport, New York, he took frequent walks along the Niagara Escarpment to enjoy the overlook's panoramic vista of upstate New York scenery and Lake Ontario, telling his wife Katherine he was "going out to see the Father's world". He died in 1901 at age 42. Shortly after his death Katherine published a compilation of Babcock's writings entitled Thoughts for Every-Day Living that contained the poem "My Father's World". The original poem contained sixteen stanzas of four lines each. The poem was set to music in 1915 by Franklin L. Sheppard, a close friend of Babcock. The tune name, TERRA BEATA, means “blessed earth” in Latin.[ Sheppard adapted the music from a traditional English melody that he learned from his mother as a child. Here are some familiar bible verses talking about God’s world:
While I was looking for verses and quotes on God’s world and nature, I found this article that I found interesting. “When we listen to songs, we feel like we are connected with the artist behind the lyrics. The singer can communicate their emotions and sentiments to anyone listening. In the same manner, God speaks to us through nature. Actually, we have the greatest similarity with nature and that is how we are all breathed into creation by God. Therefore, He speaks to us through the streams of waters, the fresh breeze, and the warm sunlight. To be able to protect this priceless connection demands that we first take care of God’s gift of nature.” After reading that, I realize why I smile when I walk outside and breathe in the fresh air and see the blue sky and white fluffy clouds. That is God saying hello to me. Once in a while, even those of you who aren’t “outside” people, should explore outside of your everyday “box” and take a walk by a stream or sit outside and feel a fresh breeze on your face. It can be a special moment, just one moment of enjoying God’s world (and you might just find that He says hello to you too) As I was listening to different artists sing this beautiful hymn, I found Amy Grant’s version of it. She is a Christian singer with an amazing faith that comes thru in her songs when she sings them. A few months ago I shared with you a song she sang titled “I Have Decided” that I loved. Today I will share with you her version of “This Is My Fathers World”. You can tell how much she loves God and His world by her singing. Enjoy it and sing along. https://youtu.be/s3-C4jp7BNw