Why do I love photos of nature?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, especially this week and last week, when my life has been so busy, hectic, noisy, chaotic, confusing and overwhelming. When I’m feeling especially panicky, simply looking outside—at a sun-kissed tree, or the river swollen with spring run-off, or the ducks and geese dwelling together so peacefully in Riverfront Park—settles my spirit and quiets my mind. And when I’m looking for photos to post on my blogs, I’m usually irresistibly drawn to simple, colorful, light-filled pictures of nature.

I’ve been thinking about why that’s true, and here are some of the reasons I’ve come up with….

All of Creation exists to give glory to the Creator. Trees and flowers, grasses and mountains, rivers and lakes and oceans, air and water, stars and galaxies and solar systems, and all living things in the physical realm give glory and worship to God simply by existing and being what they were created to be. Nature is innocent and uncomplicated. (Not to say that it’s not intricate, because it seems to me that mankind hasn’t even begun to scratch the surface of the ingenious intricacies of this universe.) But there is no premeditation in nature. There is no evil intent or hypocrisy. There’s no deception. And in addition to all of those things, there are many aspects of nature that are simply breathtakingly beautiful, and, at least in my life, God-breathed beauty is a healing, energizing force. Sometimes I pull up my blog simply to scroll through it and see the pictures.

(My friend Katrena [My Father's Beautiful World] read this post on Friday and sent me a bunch of rose pictures she has taken. This is one of my favorites of the ones she sent me. Thanks, Katrena!)