Encounter God in nature

It was almost time for bed. Our younger son glanced at the window and noticed a small toad clinging to the outside of the glass.

We sat inside and watched the little toad poised on our window, its throat bulging and shrinking, bulging and shrinking. He inched up and across the window as we looked on, noticing his long toes, marveling at how he managed to stick to the window.

Eventually the toad jumped off and disappeared into the darkness.

We thought that was that.

Then the next day my husband was walking through the front door when he noticed something next to the doorbell. It was the same little toad, huddled in a little crevice in the doorframe. He looked so different in the daylight. We could see his speckled skin and his shiny eyes.

We assumed it was the same little toad we had seen the night before. Seeing him in the daylight, though, was an entirely new experience.

While he had been hard to miss on display on the window, this time he was practically hidden next to the doorbell. If my husband didn’t have an amazing eye for detail, he would have walked past and never seen the toad.

During these days when we are home most of the time, we find ourselves noticing outdoor creatures we normally don’t see. We spot the spider spinning its web on a bush outside. We see a praying mantis crouching on our porch. We run for the camera to capture images of twin spotted fawns who are following their mother through our backyard on legs that seem too thin to carry them.

I can’t imagine that there are many more little animals in our yard than usual. I think it’s more likely that, thanks to the pandemic, we’re spending more time at home. We find ourselves stopping during the day to observe the chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, wrens, robins, hummingbirds, dragonflies, and other animals that are just on the other side of the window.

They’ve almost certainly been present—and equally entertaining—in the past. We just never took the time to notice. It makes me realize we often overlook the beauty of God’s creation in the busyness of our full lives.

As we celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi this week, we remember someone who delighted in the light of the Sun and the birds of the air, someone who saw God in the movement of the planets and the growth of the trees. What would it be like if we all looked at nature through the eyes of St. Francis? We might see God’s hand at work in extraordinary and powerful ways.

During this pandemic, we happen to be discovering more of the natural beauty around our home because this is our world. We spend most of every day in or around our rancher, so we get to know the creatures who come to visit a little better all the time. It makes me think that perhaps we just need to immerse ourselves in something to connect with it, appreciate its beauty, and recognize God there.

“Faith is like a bright ray of sunlight,” said St. Francis de Sales. “It enables us to see God in all things as well as all things in God.”

In this moment, when we may be spending less time in the places where we typically encounter God, perhaps we may find Our Father and His creation in unexpected places. Maybe we’ll feel Him with us as we connect with friends and relatives who are far away, hear His voice in the singing voice of a child, or see His hand in the creatures running through our yard.

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