Diana Gabaldon wrote, “It was a beautiful, bright autumn day, with air like cider and a sky so blue you could drown in it.” Those words describe today perfectly. And, what a beautiful day to be alive! Deep blue skies, brisk cool wind making wind chime harmonies, lots of songbirds’ symphonies, yellow butterflies flitting all around on the landscape like daytime lightning bugs, staccato acorn drums punctuating the silence, glaring train whistles, loud and journey proud. I’m perched in the swing eating boiled peanuts, drinking cherry Dr Pepper from my Mason jar, reading a letter from Boss Lady. I love having a pen pal, the excitement of anticipating a letter with each trip to the mailbox. I’ve always had pen pals, even as a child. Let me know if anyone needs a pen pal.

William Cullent Bryant called Autumn “the year’s last, loveliest smile.” I think all the seasons have beautiful smiles but Mother Nature’s glorious watercolors of the landscape in the fall remind us of the beauty of God’s creation. Nature demonstrates God’s power and majesty. We can see God’s creation as a gift to us, a work of art that reflects his glory, meant for us to enjoy and to appreciate. God could have given us a colorless world but he chose to begin and end each day in a magnificent splash of rainbow colors, drawing our eyes upwards toward the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:11 states, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

According to scripture God created the world for his own glory, displaying his power and grace and his goodness. We enjoy this earth and are meant to honor and praise God for his creation. We read in Psalm 139:14, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” In Psalm 194:24 scripture reads, “What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.”

As I write I am hearing Louis Armstrong’s song, What a Wonderful World, playing in my mind, such a simple song of hope and beauty in appreciation of life’s simple joys. He sings — “I see trees of green/Red roses too/I see them bloom/For me and you/And I think to myself/What a wonderful world/I see skies of blue/And clouds of white/The bright blessed day/The dark sacred night/And I think to myself /What a wonderful world/The colors of the rainbow/So pretty in the sky/Are also on the faces /Of people going by/I see friends shaking hands/Saying, “How do you do?”/They’re really saying/I love you/I hear babies cry/I watch them grow/They’ll learn much more/Than I’ll ever know/And I think to myself/What a wonderful world/Yes, I think to myself/What a wonderful world/Ooh, yes.”

In your prayers tonight thank God for this beautiful day and this wonderful world.

“Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.” — Rachel Carson