THE WONDERS OF CREATION

Look through the Eyes of a Child

IN order to enjoy God’s creation to the full, man must shed his indifference. He must look at the sunrise with the eyes of the very young, and listen to the glad outpourings of the birds as if they sang for the first time in creation.

“When opened it was like a small tent, and when shut, it was all curiously jointed and would fold up to the length of a man’s hand.” Nowadays we would have some difficulty in recognizing the ubiquitous umbrella from this description, but that is how it appeared to an early observer when it was invented in London in 1749. When a hand pump was first installed in an Indian village at the beginning of the century, it was an object of great astonishment and curiosity.

One old woman, on seeing it, exclaimed:
“Only death has defeated man!”

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In order to enjoy God’s creation to the full, man must shed his indifference. He must look at the sunrise with the eyes of the very young and listen to the glad outpourings of the birds as if they sang for the first time in creation.

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Thus, a long time ago, newly invented umbrella and the handpump appeared quite extraordinary. Nowadays, however, they have become so commonplace, that people do not even give them a second glance. Regrettably, our attitude to the objects of God’s creation is very similar. They had lost their novelty for us even before the handpump and the umbrella had come on the scene. Yet, everything that exists in this world, be it the budding trees or the birds on the wing, is quite wonderful beyond words. Because man sees these lovely things every day, he ceases to have any regard for their beauty and he loses his sense of wonder at their very creation. But, were he to see them for the first time, like a blind man who has suddenly regained his sight, his amazement would be unbounded. He would marvel at every leaf and every petal, and at every little feather on the wings of the birds.