The Glory of God in Nature

MAGNOLIA BLOSSOMS THIS MORNING




‘DIE EHRE GOTTES AUS DER NATUR’
By Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715-1769)
Set to music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Translated freely by Fleming Lee

THE GLORY OF GOD IN NATURE

The heavens praise Eternal Glory;
Their sound is Its name.
The rolling earth praises It, the seas extol It:
Understand, O humans, their divine words!

Who carries the uncountable stars of heaven?
Who guides the sun from its canopy?
It comes and shines, and laughs at us from afar,
And runs its course like a hero.

See the wonders of the works
That Nature has established for you!
Do not wisdom, order, strength
Announce the Lord, the Lord of the World?

Can you observe the countless hosts of beings,
Even the most insignificant dust, without feeling?
From whom did it all arise? O give him honor!
“Rely on me,” the Lord proclaims.

Mine is the power, mine are the heavens and Earth;
By my works you know me.
I am, and shall be, that which I shall be:
Your Source and God forever.

I am your Creator; I am wisdom and goodness,
A God of order and your enlightening.
I am! Love me with your whole being,
And partake of my graciousness.


BANANA BLOSSOM UNFURLING (Compare June 23)

Breaking the Ice

The dawning of a new blog is about as noteworthy as the division of one amoeba in the Okefenokee Swamp, except for whatever excitement it gives to the new blogger and the amoeba. I've come up with a flamboyant title for my first blog, and now I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to get Pegasus off the ground.

I titled this online journal “Flights of Pegasus” because the flying horse made the greatest impression on me of all the characters in “Myths Every Child Should Know”, and because from an early age I loved horses, finding them more beautiful and noble than the tribe of hairless, bickering apes into which I was born. I admired Pegasus in contrast to the human, Icarus, who defiantly flew so close to the sun that his wings melted off. Of all the animals on this planet, we humans are the most confused and defective and sickly, but also the creature with the highest aspirations. And so we keep hoping that, like Pegasus, we may soar high and attain the stars before we destroy ourselves.

Today the human situation is really touch and go: Will that part of us which has reached the Moon and created Beethoven's 9th Symphony prevail over our mad obsession with killing one another? Or if -- as someone suggested -- there are actually two very different species of souls inhabiting human bodies, will the species which loves peace and music win out over that which worships power and violence? This blog will support the peace and music crowd.

I'll end this ice-breaking entry with one of my favorite quotations: "The universe is not only queerer than we imagine, but queerer than we CAN imagine."

See you tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm thinking about this: What's in our heads that somebody else didn't plant there -- and who did they think they were, anyway?