For the Beauty of the Earth

This weekend, there's been a "boarding festival" that included a camp out. Knowing it would be my weekend on duty, I heartily volunteered because I love camping, and there would be a campfire where I was determined to introduce the girls to s'mores. Before the campfire, there was story telling, a barbecue, and music. It was an absolutely beautiful day, and I got to spend it outside having fun with my friends. As the evening wore on, several people wished me luck with sleeping outside with two dozen girls to be responsible for. Still, once I was in my tent, I couldn't help but love the idea of sleeping out in God's creation. There's a line from a movie I love, where one character asks another if he believes in God. His response is, "Wonder at creation, worship the Creator." And, apart from a tent and the fact that the sky was entirely clouded over, there I was in the middle of it. As I lay there, I could feel the stress, frustration and annoyance drain out of me to be replaced by a sense of inner peace. So in the morning when people asked me how it went, I said it was great, even in spite of a rain shower that woke me up at around 2 in the morning. Later, there was a school evensong in the cathedral. At the very end of the service, a bird got into the cathedral, singing its way through the closing prayers and song. It was as though the two were calling out, each to each. The formal decorum of a choir singing a blessing in a physically beautiful and imposing demonstration of religion. The simple song of the bird, singing because it knows nothing else, but the joy of making music for the pleasure of being alive in the free world. The two joined together, praising a God who is equally as present amongst stained glass and columns as He is in trees and sunsets.