MOTHER
NATURE
By: Steve
Higginbotham
Last Saturday, my two boys
and I were together in the van. I was
listening to the radio and the boys were simply being quiet. Then from the back of the van, my six year
old boy broke the silence and said, "Dad, why do people give Mother Nature
credit for all the beautiful things God does?" To say the least, I was taken back by the
question. I didn't even know that he had
ever heard the expression, "Mother Nature."
But how
insightful? I never cease
to be amazed at what children say. I
didn't know quite how to answer his question.
Why do we refer to the works of "Mother Nature" rather than
the works of God? Is it an effort to
avoid offending someone? Is it intended
to disguise our faith in God? Or is it
just a phrase we've picked up that has no theological significance intended?
Whatever the case may be for
our use of the term, don't you think more glory and honor would be directed to
God if instead of talking about what "Mother Nature" does, we talked about what God does?
Instead of talking about how
Mother Nature takes care of the animals during the cold Winter
months wouldn't it be more honoring to God to talk about how God takes care of
the animals during the Winter?
Instead of talking about the
beautiful sunset Mother Nature gave us, wouldn't it be more honoring to God if
we talked about the beautiful sunset God gave us?
Instead of talking about how
Mother Nature brings about the beautiful change of the seasons, wouldn't it be
more honoring to God if we talked about how God causes the change of the
seasons?
You get the idea. By using a little care in our language, we
not only can give God the praise and glory that is rightfully his, but at the
same time we may, by the change in our language, open doors to further discussion
about God with others.
I can't help but wonder if
the innocence of a six year old made him wonder why we give "Mother
Nature" credit for the beautiful things God does, then do you suppose God
ever wonders the same thing?