THE HEAVENS DECLARE

'After the world had been created, man was placed in it as in a theatre, that he, beholding above him and beneath the wonderful works of God, might reverently adore their Author.'

John Calvin in Matthew Bingham, A Heart Aflame for God, p.236.

GOD SPEAKS TWO LANGUAGES

'Communication is relational. God did not have to speak to us. He communicates because he wants to reveal himself. He gave his word and his world to invite us to know relate to him. He gave this invitation in two languages, and the completeness and clarity of the language of Scripture has not diminished our need to hear God's word in creation as well. Scripture itself is filled with references to God's world - from mountains and stars to sparrows and wild flowers and the morning mist that evaporates in the rising sunshine. God never intended for us to choose one language and ignore the other.'

Seth Lewis, The Language of Rivers and Stars: How Nature Speaks of the Glories of God, p.32.

THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS

'Beauty is our sensory access to holiness. God reveals himself, that is, in creation and in Christ, in ways we can see and hear and touch and taste, in place and person. Beauty is the term we apply to these hints of transcendence, these perceptions that there is more going on here than we can account for.'

Eugene H Peterson, As Kingfishers Catch Fire, p.80.

WHAT YOU SEE IN THE SUN

'"When the Sun rises, do you not see a round Disk of fire somewhat like a Guinea?"
O no, no, I see an Innumerable company of the Heavenly host crying, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty."
William Blake in Malcolm Guite, Lifting the Veil: Imagination and the Kingdom of God, p.14.