Earth Day - Sunday's Music

I just heard that today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Without wanting to stir reaction from any of the extreme camps on this issue, Earth Day fits in great with this Sunday's music so I'm going to blog about it.

The beauty of the earth. Wow! You could write for days and not tell all of the beautiful things God created as part of this wonderful earth: desserts, oceans, mountains, valleys, coast lands, wet lands, red dirt, black dirt, waterfalls, lakes, streams, rivers, trees, flowers, grass, the sky, rain, clouds...

Do we need to take better care of the earth? Absolutley. One example... There's a spot in the Pacific Ocean - Great Pacific Garbage Patch - that some say is the size of Texas. Others say it is the size of the continental USA. Either way its a big mess that we should be concerned about and actually DO something about.

Do we have global warming? Hmmm, not so sure on that one. The numbers in some of the studies were cooked. Oh, that's funny. Cooked numbers about being cooked. Haha. An accidental funny.

Cherry tree at my home in Whites Creek

(The house comes with the tree. Call me. I'll make you a deal.)

Is the world a beautiful creation of God? If you don't know the answer to that one you haven't been paying attention. This Sunday - since we're right in the middle of Spring and everything is soooo gorgeous - we'll be singing All Creatures of Our God and King, God of Wonders, and For the Beauty of the Earth.

The choir will be singing The River of Life.

Here's are some verses for your consideration on this 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

Genesis 1:1 NAS In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

One of my favorite verses (and chapters) about Jesus.
Colossians 1:16 NAS For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -all things have been created through Him and for Him.

Beautiful Bear Hollow

I've tried three different ways to start this post. None of them worked.

I'll let this collage of what I saw in my yard today speak for itself and then let scripture speak for itself. I think sometimes we mess all of that up when we try to do the explaining.


Here is the Apostle Paul describing our Lord Jesus Christ. You should really read the entire chapter,

(it's incredible) Read This Chapter

These verses describe His roll in creation.

Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

I Love Spring!

do you recognize my bridge in the background?

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year. Spring is full of surprises. Where did I plant those new daffodils with the short bright orange trumpet and the white petals? Oh, there they are! and they are prettier than the picture on the package.



The succession of trees blooming is so wonderful: (Feel free to vote in our new poll - what is your favorite spring tree. I'll give the results and the correct answers next week.)


first the pears,


then the cherries,

The cherry tree at my house

then the red buds (I love the drive down I-24 when all of the red buds are in bloom. but the new varieties are even more beautiful than the wild ones. If you have a chance to get to downtown Nashville in the next day or two drive through bicentennial park by the capitol. Oh my! So gorgeous!)

and just as the red buds are fading the dogwoods, the queen of spring, are in full bloom!



On Bear Hollow the peonies, daylilies, hostas, bleeding heart and iris are all right on track for a gorgeous show in a few weeks. Oooooo, Spring is so wonderful!

There's a beautiful old hymn that I love to sing in the spring - Fairest Lord Jesus. The text was written in 1677 in Germany. The tune was written in 1842. It still is a beautiful expression of love and adoration and praise in 2008.



The second verse says this:
Fair are the meadows;
Fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of springl
Jesus is fairer;
Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.



Let the beauty of spring remind you of the beauty of our Lord. Let His beauty and love and grace make your heart sing!


Of course a great place for singing is in choir. I'll be looking for you tonight!