This is My Father's World

I had to get out of bed this morning earlier than I would have liked. I thought about hopping in the shower right away to clear my brain, but decided a walk would be better. I quickly got dressed, grabbed my cell phone, put Elizabeth in charge of Jude and headed out.

As I walked, I filled my lungs with the crisp autumn air. I love that feeling. It's like your lungs are getting a good cleaning. I walked past a field full of steers contentedly eating their breakfasts. They looked at me curiously, but were not deterred from continuing to chew their cud. One big guy did stop eating long enough to give me the courtesy of a bellering "moo."

That same pasture had about fifteen mallard ducks and their mates waddling about. They were finding fresh bugs amongst the grass. As I walked past them, the mommas quacked and fussed to get everybody moving away from me. The daddies ignored their naggings and just kept eating.

It looked like God took a big paint brush and stroked white clouds across the canvas of bright blue sky. The morning sun was shining against the clouds and a pair of geese flew overhead and honked as if to say, "Good morning down there, isn't it a beautiful day?"

I soaked it all in as I walked home. The auburn colored leaves on the trees, the grasses turning their autumn gold and the birds busily flying to and fro, chirping happily as they went about their business. I felt the vigor return to my bones and this hymn began playing in my mind:

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 every where.

(Curiously enough, I just learned that the man who wrote this hymn, Malthie D. Babcock, was a pastor. When he would start off on one of his beloved hikes through the woods in New York, he would say, "I'm going out to see my Father's world.")