Who of us hasn’t marveled at the beauty of a spectacular sunset, the power of a rushing river, the intricacy of a spider’s web, or the incredible complexity of the human body? If you are like me, stopping and really looking at all the beauty we have around us reminds me of our loving Father, the One who created it all.
The prophet Alma put it best when he said, “all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.” (Alma 30:44)
Last week I sat on a balcony up in the mountains of Colorado. All around me were pine-covered mountain tops whose peaks still held some winter snow. The view was incredible. But what really caught my attention were the three black-and-white birds, about a foot and a half long from beak to tail, that were playing with each other in the grass just below. They weren’t that dull muddy black you sometimes see on city birds… they were jet black and pure white. The contrast in their feathers was startlingly beautiful.
Then I turned my attention to the little ground squirrels. They were fascinating to watch – standing up on their back legs like they were begging, or scrambling across the grass to get back to their burrow. When one vocalized, it was a single-pitched trill that made its entire body and tail tremble. Such marvelous beauty.
All this life that exists around us – from the bugs and ground squirrels living in the earth beneath our feet – to the grass, trees, and flowers that exist to bring beauty but also provide life-giving oxygen – to the sunsets and thunderstorms and wild rocky beaches – all of it was created so that you and I could have this mortal experience that is so essential in our eternal progression. It is here that we learn how to live in peace and happiness. It is here we learn how to love. And it is here we learn how to create – just as our Father does.
Lovely.