Alison and I have spent the weekend at my cousin’s cottage in Ontario – the summer home of my teens, and one I have taken too long to visit.

So much is the same as I remember, but I come with practiced ears and eyes (and a professional zoom lens!) to notice nature. For months I have been waiting to write about a scene in the spirit of “All Creatures of Our God and King,” the hymn that instructs parts of nature to praise the Lord. This seems like a perfect opportunity.

So, here goes. I don’t have time to write in rhythm or meter, alas. (I'll leave such feats of poetry to T.M.) But then again, the great hymn writers didn’t have a professional zoom.

Nagging persistence of phoebe. Hammering rhythm of woodpecker. Resonant gulp of frogs. Hum of dragonflies. Mournful wail of loon.

Join your unique voices in praise to your Maker!

Dance of evening breeze in branches. Clouds, slow wanderers of the In-Between. Fractured light on choppy water.

With joyful purpose, obey your Master!

Sibling kits in play together, celebrate God’s gift of family.

Osprey mates, build your nest as an example of his provision of a home.

Birch wrapped in paper white.

Wild iris, extravagant in hue.

Give testimony to your Father’s multifaceted beauty.

Respledent sun, as we turn from you, end the performance of praise for this day. The diurnal world makes way for the second movement of the ongoing symphony, played in darker, more secret tones. But still as glorious. Still as full of wonder and adoration.

Let all things their Creator bless
and worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
and praise the Spirit, Three in One:
O praise Him, O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!