Docents of Glory: Gerard Manley Hopkins (4)

Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!  Psalm 148.1, 2

Creation, sing!
Psalm 148 is characteristic of several other psalms in calling on the creation to sing praise and glory to God. Consider the catalog of creation’s beings which are summoned to take up the chorus: Heaven and the heights thereof, angels and heavenly hosts, sun and moon and stars, creatures on earth and in the seas, snow and mist and wind, hills and all trees, livestock and birds, kings, princes, rulers, men and women, old people and children – all are called upon to voice their praise to God.

The call to humans we can understand, and we can envision what that would look like as it is obeyed. But what about the other, non-human creatures? How do trees and hills, birds and cows, plowed fields and even the trades and works of human beings, even the weather – how do all these bring praise to God?

Well, not with their own voices, since they have none, but in the voices of those who are called to glorify God in everything they do. Everything we do involves us in observing, interacting with, using, and enjoying all the things God has made. All created things have an offering of praise to God, and it is our calling, as docents of glory, to give voice to that praise.

Beauty everywhere!
Gerard Manley Hopkins provides many examples of how we may become the voices of creation to give creation voice in praising the Lord. Here is his poem, “Pied Beauty”:

Glory be to God for dappled things –
   For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
      For rose-moles in all stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
   Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
      And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
   Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
      With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change;
                                     Praise him.

“Pied” means spotted, speckled, or blotched with several colors. Hopkins celebrates all manner of ordinary things that fall into that category. A trout hovering in a shallow stream, a cow meandering through a field, purple finches at the feeder, farmed fields seen from a hilltop, and all the stuff that goes into all the work that people do each day. Hopkins even includes things we taste – sweet and sour chicken, for example!

Clothes or accessories that dazzle, lights that blink and dim, things swift and things slow: Hopkins is agog with wonder and delight at them all.

All these creatures “father-forth” beauty that lasts, beauty that is forever available for us to observe, remark, and celebrate. And as we do, we can give praise to God, Whose beauty, simplicity, majesty, splendor, glory, goodness, wisdom, power, and grace are refracted through all these creatures, as they in being merely what they are, flame, shake out, and ooze the glory and grandeur of God.

Voicing creation’s praise
We can give voice to creation, so that it fulfills its purpose of giving glory and praise to God. But we’re not likely to be docents to the world of the glory God has concealed in everyday creatures until we actually begin to observe and learn more about the creatures of the world around us, paying loving attention to each in order to discover the peculiar way each proclaims the grandeur of God.

This takes time, and may require that we be willing to forego certain activities so that we can devote ourselves to paying more attention to the world. But if we will take the time to look, listen, ponder, and enjoy even the most mundane, everyday things, we will find no shortage of reasons to thank and praise the Lord for these precious gifts.

Delight in the works of God in creation, and study to learn them. God has appointed each of us, in our own way, to voice creation’s praise so that others can see His glory and praise Him as well.

For reflection
1.  Meditate on 1 Corinthians 10.31. How can a simple situation like eating and drinking bring glory to God?

2.  What about other simple situations? Or simple things? How can you begin to show more gratitude to God for everyday blessings, gifts, and situations?

3.  The psalmist and Gerard Manly Hopkins voiced the praises of creation by writing poetry. How do you see yourself fulfilling this aspect of your calling as a docent of glory?

Next steps: Today, choose one everyday object – something you see or use every single day (a fork, article of clothing, particular road, etc.). How many different ways can you think to thank and praise God for this item? Think into the “dearest freshness deep down” of the thing, and give praise and thanks to God throughout the day. Share one or two of your observations with someone else.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.