The Workmanship of Mine Hands – Sunday, March 03, 1985
One of life’s more youthful and exciting times is the annual renewal of the earth called spring. It’s a time when one can have a simple but powerful communion with nature. It is one of the best remedies for spiritual ills. It stirs our spirits. We experience surges of energy and optimism as we witness longer periods of sunlight, warming temperatures, and the landscape putting on a new face of color. But the miracle of spring comes so quietly each year that many of us take it for granted and fail to comprehend its significance.
Spring, it seems, is a season more than any other to reassure us that there is a God in the heavens. Emerson said, “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”1 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands.”2 Surely to observe the glories of nature is to verify the existence of God.
Another scripture reads, “…all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth and all things that are upon the face of it…do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.”3
Who can look upon a tulip in bloom, a budding cherry blossom. Who can smell a fresh lilac tree or the air after a gentle rain and not ponder the power that can compose and orchestrate the beautiful rebirth of an entire landscape.
All of God’s creations bear witness of His existence—including the earth, moon, and stars. As one spiritual leader said, “…any man who hath seen any or the least of these hath seen God moving in His majesty and power.”4
So, as spring makes its debut, let us use the beauty of the season to commune with God and give thanks for this annual miracle, for another of the great gifts He has given us. Regular contact with nature, especially in the springtime, can have a renewing effect on our dispositions and personalities. It can strengthen us and give us confidence to work through difficulties. And, not unexpectantly, it often returns us to faith and reason.
As we hear in the lyrics of the song, “Verdant Meadows,” let spring be more than just another season; let’s “let thy beauty now remind me of thy God, ever gracious, mighty ruler over all.”5
1 Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard L Evans’ Quote Book. p 127,
2 Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:4
3 Book of Mormon, Alma 30:44
4 Doctrine and Covenants, 88:47
5 Adapted texts from George Frederic Handel, “Verdant Meadows”
March 03, 1985
Broadcast Number 2,898