For the Beauty of the Earth!

The last few days I've woken up in the morning, praying that the Lord would get me safely to work. It's a well known fact that nurses do not get snow days. Rain, snow, sleet or ice...the show must go on! For me, this means waking up an hour earlier....looking out the window to assess the weather and the roads and then watching the 5 AM news to determine the best route to work. Then, I bundle up (scrubs are not known to be warm and toasty in this wintery, blustery weather!), hop in the car and slip and slide all the way to work!

You would then think that once I arrive to work there would be at least 12 hours of relative calm and normalcy compared with the morning commute! But, no! The madness continues throughout the day! So you might understand how wondrous it was to get safely home last night. I pulled into my snow covered driveway and stepped out of the car. Before I stepped into the toasty warmth of my house to enjoy dinner and a cup of tea, I had to take the trash to the curb for pick up in the morning. Normally when I do this task after dark, I'm petrified...scurrying to grab the trash can, drop it at the curb and run as fast as I can to safety. But last night, there was only peace and quiet. There is just something about snow...all of the sudden everything seems so bright in the night...and so calm and quiet. It was beautiful to just take a moment to enjoy that peace and quiet that seems to have overtaken the city...or at least my neighborhood!

So, in the midst of the busyness of this season, the craziness that ensues with the snowfall, and the madness of life, I hope you take a moment to stop and enjoy the beauty of this earth that the Savior of the world designed and created!

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!
Isaiah 6:3

For the Beauty of the Earth
by Folliot Pierpoint

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.

For Thy Church, that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love.

For the martyrs’ crown of light,
For Thy prophets’ eagle eye,
For Thy bold confessors’ might,
For the lips of infancy.

For each perfect gift of Thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.

Refrain:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.