“Ever since the creation of the world, the invisible existence of God and his everlasting power have been clearly seen by the mind’s understanding of created things” (from Romans 1:16-25).
Do you know any “sun worshippers?” At the first hint of summer they don their bathing suits and hurry to pool side. There they lie, sometimes for hours basking in the warmth of the sun. Even in late September they try to drink a few last gulps of the early autumn rays to keep their summer tans “alive.”
Let’s speculate on what might happen next. They have so begun to love the sun that they buy a collection of wall paintings and pictures that capture the beauty of the sun shining. Before you know it, they make it a time-consuming project of finding more such paintings to add to their collection. They search for sales at card shops for greeting cards which have the sun as their themes. Can we call these people “sun worshippers?”
Remember how David sang about the sun? “In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs his course with joy” (Psalm 19:5). Do we suspect that David was a sun worshipper too? He wasn’t. Though he became poetically ecstatic in watching the sun, David took care to note that, “He set a tent for the sun.” Marvelling at the sun drew David back to the wonder of the God who created it, gave it a canopy, and set it in the heavens to bring warmth, energy, and beauty to his children on earth.
St. Paul reminded the Church at Rome how all of creation speaks the presence of God. “For what can be known about God is perfectly plain to them, since God has made it plain to them.” And so people who look below the sun at their tanned bodies instead of above the sun to see the God who created it as one tiny speck in a magnificent universe, miss the point. When such people make an idol of God’s creature and at the same time deny the Creator, Paul says, “they have no excuse: they knew God and yet did not honor him as God or given thanks to him, but their arguments became futile and their uncomprehending minds were darkened.”
God speaks through all of creation, and all his gifts are meant to get our attention and turn our thoughts to the loving presence of the Gift Giver. When a gift is given us, we are touched not by the object given, but by the love that it expresses from a friend. Paul is telling us that God does not hide himself but manifests himself in so many ways that we cannot miss him. Somehow, however, as humans we can let our uncomprehending minds miss out on the reality of God’s love and expressed beauty. We may not be “sun worshippers,” but we may have turned into “TV worshippers,” “food worshippers”, or even “children worshippers.”
As Christians we have the ever-presence of Jesus, the greatest of all gifts, to remind us to see his Father in Him and in all creation. Have our minds been darkened by the propaganda of the world? Do we need to resolve again today to see God in his creatures, and recommit ourselves to being “Son Worshippers?”
“The heavens are telling the glory of God and the firmament proclaims his handiwork”(Psalm 19:1).
