by Rob Des Cotes

PRAISING GOD FOR APPLES

One of the activities at last weekend’s Harvest Festival at Brooksdale involved people pressing bushels of apples into some of the best juice around.  As we had an abundance of product at the end of the day there was lots available for the staff to share.  Ruth and I even brought a large bottle with us to our weekly Imago Dei group.

As people gathered for our hospitality time they enjoyed a glass of what was probably the freshest apple juice they’d ever had.  It was quite telling to hear the responses around the room.  “Wow.”  “This is so-o-o-o good!”  “I didn’t know apple juice could taste this good.”  Listening to this spontaneous chorus of praise I couldn’t help but realize that what was going on was actually a form of worship.  Rather than a guitarist or an organist leading us in worship it was the beauty of apples and their God-given delight that was prompting this praise of Creation.

I have often thought that one of the potentials of our work at A Rocha must surely be in the area of worship leadership.  Not singing songs or producing poetic litanies but in helping people appreciate more deeply the wonders God has created all around us.  Some of my own most profound experiences of worship have come from reading National Geographic.  I’ve often felt my heart leap with a “Wow!” of praise at the marvels described in some of these articles and photos.

I am convinced that the church needs more scientists, naturalists, ornithologists and entomologists to help us see and appreciate all that is praise-worthy in Creation.  It needs farmers to help us praise God for the way things grow, and cultivators to help us respond with proper care and nurture as we participate with Creation.  We also need cooks, canners and apple pressers to show us the many creative ways there are to be loved by our Creator.

I offer this blog as a call for help to all who have such vocations.  Come serve the rest of us who barely understand the world we live in.  Help us see and appreciate what most of us have barely scratched the surface on.  Help us recognize the Genius at work in the inner workings of a tree or the biodiversity going on in a field or a pond.  Help us savour this good earth in ways we never, on our own, imagined possible.

In short, may God bless you with more and more opportunities to share what you know with us.  It helps us better worship God.  Let’s widen our concept of worship leadership beyond music and lyrics.  We need people who understand Creation to help us praise God for life itself.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Rob Des Cotes lives at A Rocha’s Brooksdale site with his wife Ruth. He is a spiritual director with Imago Dei who also enjoys landscape photography and contemplating God’s beauty through watercolour painting.