All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small
All things wise and wonderful
The lord god made them all
Each little flower that opens
Each little bird that sings
He made their glowing colours
He made their tiny wings

How often have we sung this well-known hymn, but have we ever thought about the words. How the words tell of the beauty of God’s creation, how wonderful and beautiful it is.

When we sing each little flower that opens, do we think of the wild flowers which are so abundant in this area? How many times have we rejoiced with the sight of the first primrose to flower after a long winter? Have we ever got down and looked at the wild flower cross wort and seen the hundreds of tiny yellow cross shaped flowers covering it? Have we ever looked closely deep into the centre of a wild orchid to see the hidden colours used to attract the bees? How often have we struggled to remove a burdock burr from our dog’s coat? Next time take a minute to look at the ball of hooks, marvel at the construction. Each plant is a wonder of creation.

When we sing each little bird that sings, do we think of that country walk and the wonder of listening to a sky lark high in the sky, almost invisible and yet we can hear it. How can a bird so small and far away produce such a loud and beautiful song? Or perhaps the evening walks in the twilight hearing an owl hoot and then to see it silently and majestically hunting nearby. Or if we are up early have we listened to the dawn chorus, picking out different bird’s song, each bird is a wonder of God’s creation.

All things bright and beautiful look at the small things such as wild flowers and birds, ordinary parts of our world, but each one is an exquisite creation of our heavenly father. The abundance of them is evidence of an overflowing creativity and love of beauty.

This hymn continues to talk about the beauty and sheer wonder of the world, a world which points to the greatness of the power beyond. The natural world is a hymn of praise to God which prompts us to share in that praise.

The words, ‘he gave us eyes to see them and lips that we might tell how great is God almighty who has made all things well’, remind us that each day we are confronted with a world that has such amazing complexity, such astonishing variety and such awesome intricacy that we have a sense of the wonder of the world we live in. God made us able to appreciate beauty. If we learn to see and hear, if we take time to look and listen, there are reasons to praise and rejoice around us every day.

The words from Genesis chapter one – ‘God saw all he had made and it was good.’  So when we sing such a well known hymn ‘all things bright and beautiful’ we are affirming that our world is full of the most amazing sights and sounds  and how great our god is who created them all.

Judith Dean

(Reader)