“This Is My Father’s World… All Nature Sings!”

“This is my Father’s World… All Nature Sings!”

“We need to discover a way of reading nature which includes the most possibilities.” (Flannery O Conner).

Who do we humans think we are, anyway? If something isn’t visible to us, does that mean it isn’t there? If we can’t hear something, does that mean that particular sound doesn’t exist? Granted, we are made in the image of God, so that is our true and foundational identity. And since Jesus of Nazareth is the exact perfect image of God, then we assume we are each made in the image of Christ. Our identity can only be found in Jesus Christ. But that doesn’t mean we human beings are the center of the universe… God is all of that. So why do we assume that something that is outside our awareness doesn’t in fact exist? Why are we so slow to believe in nature’s way of life? The fact is that we humans are ignorant of how creation works, of nature and all its inner mysteries. God has hidden much from us in His creation that is beyond us, outside of our understanding. If nature is full of sounds that are not audible to the human ears, so be it. As has been said often, “Some things have to be believed to be seen. Belief comes before understanding.” 

Nature’s Sound waves. God created sound to be a form of energy, a vibration, that must have a source from somewhere, and sound waves ripple from the source through matter, whether air, liquid, gas, or solid matter. Without some kind of source and some kind of matter to act as a medium, sound apparently doesn’t exist in the way we understand sound. Since much of outer space is a vacuum and doesn’t contain air, space is completely silent. Except, except, there is, lo and behold, some obvious matter in space… stars, planets, meteors, other pieces of substance. So therefore, there are indeed sound waves in space that vibrate through these pieces of matter. In fact, these sounds are now picked up and measured by scientists in amazing new technologies that collect all the data that is coming from these space materials. And now we can actually translate the sound waves from stars and planets into what the astrophysicists call “harmonious songs.” Yes, as proclaimed in Job 38:7, the “morning stars sang together in chorus” at creation, and the fact is they are still singing! Literally! There is a natural song of the universe, given by God, sung by the matter in space, and all we have to do is translate nature’s soundtrack so that we can truly hear and understand what nature is singing! Nature communicates in a foreign tongue, an otherworldly language to us humans, and all we need are translators. Music is in the DNA of the whole world. Why would our musical creator, who must have sung the universe into being, limit the profound gift of music to us mere humans? Doesn’t it make more sense that our Trinity-God, the world’s eternal Heavenly Trio, would be more than happy to offer the gift of music to all of creation, and not just us people?

“This is my Father’s world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father’s world,
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world,
He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father’s world.
O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world:
why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let the earth be glad!”

Words, Maltbie Babcock, 1901

Music, Franklin Shepherd, 1915