Creation's Worship

The following words were written (originally in prose form) by Peter Leithart in the "Quodlibet" section of the current issue of Touchstone. I found them to be worthy of poetic form and took the liberty of arranging them so (I hope Dr. Leithart won't mind).

Creation's Worship
Peter Leithart, 2010

Why do birds sing at daybreak?
Why does frosted gravel sparkle
like diamonds in the sun?
Why do spring lilacs
cast their aroma out on the air?

Hearing, sight, smell -
all are senses that receive their pleasures
at a distance. But why?
For whom or what?

For us, no doubt.
Smells, sounds, and sights
draw us from a distance,
inviting us to draw near
to taste and touch.

But not only for us.
For the Christian,
the ultimate answer is liturgical.
Creation exists to offer praise to the Creator,
and in her worship,
the Church participates in that cosmic liturgy -
humanly articulating the sounds, sights, and aromas
that already ascend to heaven.

The Theater of God's Glory

My friend, Eric Smith, has a great post today on his blog (Shepherd of the Sheep), reminding us that compartmentalized thinking (which runs rampant in American Evangelicalism) simply will not do when we realize the universal scope of God's reign. Here's an excerpt:

It is easy to live a divided, compartmentalized kind of life in which God fits neatly into Sundays and Wednesday nights, as well as in our quiet times, but then to view everything else from our jobs to our back yards to our meals with completely secular lenses. But Scripture, and I think especially the psalms, call us to reject such a notion.

Israel’s God, Yahweh, was not limited to a certain sphere of the world; he was the Creator of all things – their covenant God was the Lord of the universe! And so we must see, and confess, and delight in the truth that everything – everything – belongs to the Triune God of our salvation. It was created by him and for him.

Let us remind ourselves today that we are not simply going about business as usual; we are passing through the theater of the glory of God.

I encourage you to read the whole thing here.