Joe Furphy, Presbyterian representative on the Eco-Congregation Ireland committee has composed a beautiful poem which can be used during Creation Time.
My Walk
I went for an ordinary walk on an ordinary day.
God stopped my ordinary walk and said to me –
Look! So I looked and saw around me:
the beauty of the colours of the flowers,
the variety of plants and animals
the harmony of a woodland edge,
the play of sunlight on the water,
the pattern of clouds across the sky.
I went for an ordinary walk on an ordinary day.
God stopped my ordinary walk and said to me –
Listen! So I listened and heard around me:
the bubbling of water over rocks,
the rustling of the wind in the rushes and the trees,
the musical cadences of a blackbird’s song,
the conversational buzz of bees and flies,
the silence in the centre of a dense wood.
I went for an ordinary walk on an ordinary day.
God stopped my ordinary walk and said to me –
What is power? So I looked around me and I saw:
the strength of an oak tree,
the apparent weakness of a reed, whose strength lies in pliability,
the mighty downward rush of a waterfall,
the dashing flight of a hawk through the trees,
a tiny yellow flower pushing its way up through tarmac.
I went for an ordinary walk on an ordinary day.
God stopped my ordinary walk and said to me –
Consider! So I considered what I saw around me:
the amazing diversity of life forms,
the complex relationship between animals and plants,
the way each has it time and place,
the opportunity for humans to enjoy and appreciate Creation,
how tiny is each individual’s role in it.
I went for an ordinary walk on an ordinary day.
God stopped my ordinary walk and said to me –
Well, what have you learnt about my Creation?
I replied:
its beauty,
its diversity and abundance,
the interlocking of all it elements,
our humility in the face of such complexity,
and our need to love and respect it – and You!
I went for an ordinary walk on an ordinary day.
God stopped my ordinary walk and showed me –
that every aspect of Creation is extra-ordinary,
every day we live is extra-ordinary,
everything He has gifted us is extra-ordinary,
everything He does for us is extra-ordinary.
God is extra-ordinary!
How is your walk?