Week 1: Looking for God’s Fingerprints
Nature sightings at St. James
God’s beauty, design, creativity, and diversity is all around us. When was the last time you stopped to notice God’s beauty in nature? You don’t have to travel far to experience God. I stepped out of the office today and started looking around and listening.
I noticed the curling frond of an Ostrich Fern. I noticed a tall flower that looked like afirework (after googling, I learned it is a “Star of Persia”). I noticed bird calls from Red-winged Blackbirds, American Goldfinches, House Sparrows, and Black-capped Chickadees. I noticed the fragrant lilacs inviting pollinators to drink. I also noticed the lilacs are planted near the entrance of our sanctuary and I began to imagine lilacs as greeters of the church, inviting thirsty people to receive the nectar of God’s word.
What a beautiful world God has made! I can see his fingerprints everywhere: the exquisite attention to detail, the growing and dying and living together in interdependence. God is good! This is what I noticed in my 7-minute walk around our church parking lot.
Where have you noticed God’s fingerprints lately? Go out and explore today.
Read this: Psalm 8 and Proverbs 8:22-31.
Try this: Go outside. Look for 5 things you haven’t noticed before. It could be something you see, hear, feel, or smell. Take a picture or try to describe what you notice. Look it up with Google lens or use a nature app like Merlin (bird identification app.)
Be Curious: What can you compare it to? How do you notice God in this piece of God’s creation? What does it tell you about who God is?
Pray: Tell God what you noticed. Invite God to continue to reveal himself through nature and cultivate curiosity in you.