The Season of Creation

Ah, spring-time!
“The spring has sprung,
The grass is riss
I wonder where the birdies iss.
They say the bird is on the wing,
But that's absurd.
I know the wing is on the bird.”

There is no doubt that spring can bring out the beauty of nature – especially in those areas where the seasons are visually marked. I've just arrived back from two weeks in Launceston where spring is very obviously bursting in. This visual excitement of springtime is probably one reason why an increasing number of Christian churches has designated September as the Season of Creation.

Season of Creation? Well, the Christian church year has had various “seasons” - Advent, Christmas, Lent, Pentecost – and this new addition serves to focus on God the Creator and humankind's relationship with their home planet. The idea was first mooted back in 2000 by a Lutheran theologian, Dr Norman Habel, and since then has been meeting with more and more acceptance. (www. seasonofcreation.com)

In a three-year cycle each Sunday in September will focus on one aspect of our planet. My photos below depict the four themes in the first cycle.


Forest Sunday
Mature buttress roots keeping aloft a giant in the rain-forest behind the Gold Coast.
“O sing unto the Lord a new song.[....] Let the field be joyful and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord”. (Ps. 96: 1, 12-13.)


Land Sunday
“Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons and all deeps: fire and hail; snow and vapour; stormy winds fulfilling his word; mountains, and all hills;” ( Ps. 148: 7-9) Mt Warning in northern New South Wales stands as a silent sentinel above the surrounding farmland.


Outback/wilderness Sunday
Of outback, Australia has plenty. Barren rock, and persistent shrubs are seen here in south-west Queensland near Quilpie.
“Be still and know that I am God”. (Ps. 46,10)














River Sunday
The chattering course of Cedar Creek as it leaves Mt Tambourine in the Gold Coast hinterland.
“He watereth the hills from his chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruits of thy works”. (Ps. 104, 13)