The Beauty of Creation

A Reflection by Maureen Gerecke

I have always been drawn to beauty around me, and to colors most acutely. As an artist, I notice color everywhere. I see the beauty of God in nature, flowers, trees, leaves. In all sources of water—the ocean, creeks, rivers, lakes, waterfalls—there is beauty.

I experience beauty through all my senses: my vision, mostly, and also through the sounds of ocean waves and singing birds; the scents of lavender and peppermint; the feel of soft textures; the taste of chocolate.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. True. The Spirit within is able to see beauty everywhere. We choose when we recognize it.

God is the great artist who creates all that is beautiful. How do I forget to notice? God is the energy behind, beneath, in, and through all forms of beauty. Expressing in every color, scent, and sound.

Saint Augustine’s poem, “The Beauty of Creation Bears Witness to God” is one of my favorites.

The Beauty of Creation Bears Witness to God

Question the beauty of the Earth,

The beauty of the Sea,

The beauty of the wide air around you,

The beauty of the sky;

Question, the order of the stars,

The sun, whose bright lights the day,

The moon, who splendor softens the gloom of night;

Question, the living creatures that move in the water,

That roam upon the Earth,

That fly through the air;

The spirit that lies hidden,

the matter that is manifest;

The visible things that are ruled,

The invisible, that rule them;

Question all these.

They will answer you:

“Behold, and see we are beautiful.”

Their beauty is their confession of God.

Who made these beautiful changing things, if not, the One who is beautiful and changes not?

Where do you witness beauty in your life? How do you sense God’s touch behind it? What effect does beauty have on you?

Maureen Gerecke

Maureen is a Closed Sacred Circle Facilitator for Retreat, Reflect, Renew.