Stop right there! If you’re in a hurry or not able to pay attention to what you’re about to read, don’t read this! Is there somewhere you love to go because whenever you’re there you think, “jeez this place is beautiful”? A favorite park or lookout spot, perhaps? Your living room in the morning quiet as the light comes in? (If a place like that - a local, accessible place - doesn’t come to mind…then turn your little screen off and go find one)
Then, when you’re there, and you’ve taken a deep breath or two…read this beautiful meditation from Sirach on the beauty of the world and the goodness of God.
The part you’ll see below that I’ve bolded stands out to me for this simple reason: when you’re taking in something beautiful, there comes a desire to understand it and know it more completely; that’s totallyyyy normal in the presence of beauty. It’s why crazed lovers stalk people (if you want a histrionic example…). BUT! We'll always fail in recounting the wonders of the Lord, and this is such good news because even one wonder is too much for us and yet he just keeps heaping them on us. Don’t believe me? Go outside, get close to a flower or a tree, and look for awhile. You’ll see what I mean.
From the book of Sirach
42:15—43:12
All creation gives praise to God
Now will I recall God’s works;
what I have seen, I will describe.
At God’s word were his works brought into being;
they do his will as he has ordained for them.
As the rising sun is clear to all,
so the glory of the Lord fills all his works;
Yet even God’s holy ones must fail
in recounting the wonders of the Lord,
Though God has given these, his hosts, the strength
to stand firm before his glory.
He plumbs the depths and penetrates the heart;
their innermost being he understands.
The Most High possesses all knowledge,
and sees from of old the things that are to come:
He makes known the past and the future,
and reveals the deepest secrets.
No understanding does he lack;
no single thing escapes him.
Perennial is his almighty wisdom;
he is from all eternity one and the same,
With nothing added, nothing taken away;
no need of a counselor for him!
How beautiful are all his works!
even to the spark and the fleeting vision!
The universe lives and abides forever;
to meet each need, each creature is preserved.
All of them differ, one from another,
yet none of them has he made in vain,
For each in turn, as it comes, is good;
can one ever see enough of their splendor?
The clear vault of the sky shines forth
like heaven itself, a vision of glory.
The orb of the sun, resplendent at its rising:
what a wonderful work of the Most High!
At noon it seethes the surface of the earth,
and who can bear its fiery heat?
Like a blazing furnace of solid metal,
it sets the mountains aflame with its rays;
By its fiery darts the land is consumed;
the eyes are dazzled by its light.
Great indeed is the Lord who made it,
at whose orders it urges on its steeds.
The moon, too, that marks the changing times,
governing the seasons, their lasting sign,
By which we know the feast days and fixed dates,
this light-giver which wanes in its course:
As its name says, each month it renews itself;
how wondrous in this change!
The beauty, the glory, of the heavens are the stars
that adorn with their sparkling the heights of God,
At whose command they keep their place
and never relax in their vigils.
A weapon against the flood waters stored on high,
lighting up the firmament by its brilliance,
Behold the rainbow! Then bless its Maker,
for majestic indeed is its splendor;
It spans the heavens with its glory,
this bow bent by the mighty hand of God.