Whilst I was walking alone in the woods late in May of this year the hymn ‘O Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness’ came to mind, so I happily sang, and prayed, and thought, as I progressed along in no particular direction amongst the trees. Like many people I find the beauty of nature enables me to pray and to praise the Creator.
The hymn ‘O Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness’ was written by Rev John Samuel Monsell (1811-1875)[i], and is based on verses from Psalm 96. I guess to my mind the ‘beauty of holiness’ looks and feels sufficiently like woods on a sunny day to cause me to think of that particular hymn, but who can trace the hidden paths of our thoughts?
Well let’s have a go, and see if we can tease out at least some logic from the phantasms of my soul. However, I must say despite my best efforts to organise my thoughts this little reflection is something of a wonder in the woods.
Verse three of the hymn, ‘O Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness’ refers to entering the sacred Temple Courts, encouraging us to not be afraid of going in to the holy place, we sing,
Fear not to enter his courts in the slenderness
of the poor wealth thou wouldst reckon as thine:
truth in its beauty, and love in its tenderness,
these are the offerings to lay on his shrine.
The trees felt to me like they were defining a sacred place, like the Temple Courts of God. There is often in the human response to nature a sense of awe which might lift our eyes to heaven as the rising perspective of the trees might lift our eyes to the sky. Awe puts into perspective our place in the universe but need not exclude us from that place.
In an old church light flooding in through the gothic framework of stone shafts and branches in the windows can appear a little like trees rising up to form a leafy canopy. Indeed some architectural historians think the repeating columns and fan vaulting of a Cathedral are meant to evoke the trees and canopy of woodland. Solomon’s Temple, that great historical pattern for the design of sacred space, was decorated with carvings of palm trees and flowers, it seems that in walling and roofing out nature to define a place to focus our minds on the Creator we yet seek reminders of his handiwork. So perhaps the woods remind us of the church building and the church building reminds us of the woods?
One might think it better to simply worship outside in the woods, I would love to lead a service or be a part of one that met in a wood. In Joseph Ford’s book, ‘Some Reminiscences and Folk Lore of Danby Parish and District’, he tells how the first Methodists in the parish of Danby on the North Yorkshire Moors had no building but rather used to hold open air services on the moor tops, and that as night fell on Sunday evenings they could be seen by their lanterns descending the daleside. I wonder if their enthusiasm survived a cold and wet north easterly? Joseph Ford does not comment on what happened to the Methodist’s outdoor enthusiasm if inclement weather prevailed.
Creation may also remind us of the Creator rather than just of church buildings. The things we make are characteristic of us so God’s creation must be characteristic of Him. Psalm 19 tell us that, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.’
Of course we have stomped all over Creation, to the extent that some Christians think we can no longer recognise the hand of God in nature, we have certainly failed to act consistently with the duty of care for nature given to humanity by God in Genesis 1, but God made us to be creators, we are made in the image of our Creator God[ii], so He expects us to care for and shape nature with Him. Despite our evident failure to care for the planet wilderness need not be the ideal, we are a part of nature and so is our ability to shape it.
There is, however, no easy connection between beauty, nature and holiness, or at least the one that may occur to us, that nature, beauty and holiness are pleasing to the senses, is not straightforward.
Holiness isn’t always aesthetically pleasing, and neither is beauty.
Holiness in English stands in for the Latin word ‘sacred’, which in turn stands in for the New testament Greek word ‘hieros’, meaning a person, a place, a time, or an item, set aside for serving God, especially in the Temple.
The sacred is not always decorative, even if Victorian Stained Glass windows might suggest so, for example, Saint Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that in the service of God he has been imprisoned, flogged, beaten, stoned and shipwrecked, none of which would have been pretty. So holiness is no guarantee of cleanliness, or safety, or serenity, or any of the other things that Victorian Stained Glass windows might suggest it is about. Saint Paul adds that he delights in such dreadful difficulties because in them he has found the grace of God to be revealed, in serving God in ugly situations we may encounter the divine. Things are set aside for the service of God not to keep them separate but so that they may serve a divine purpose which may well require engaging with the ugliness of life, just as beauty is not mere ‘prettiness’ but something far more profound[iii]. The marks of age and experience on an old person’s body are as beautiful in their own way as the freshness of a child’s smile, true beauty is related to meaning not just appearance. Nature herself can be ugly to look at and experience, nature is best idealised from an armchair indoors, yet within nature there is a profound beauty, one which causes me to sing.
Nature, like beauty and holiness, bears the marks of suffering and decay.
The Christian should not be surprised that nature both rejoices and mourns, Thomas[iv] saw that Our Lord, the one through whom all things were created, carries the marks of his passion and crucifixion in his body. In the most holy place, sat at the right hand of God, is Jesus with scars that in truth are beautiful because they were gained in loving service of us all. Redemption means that we can approach the sanctuary without fear and offer our prayers and praise in love and truthfulness knowing they will be accepted and transfigured, as we sing in ‘Beauty of holiness’,
These, though we bring them in trembling and fearfulness,
he will accept for the name that is dear;
mornings of joy give for evenings of tearfulness,
trust for our trembling and hope for our fear.
I don’t think you can truly love without experiencing ‘evenings of tearfulness’, but as Saint Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, 'Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.‘ That is the beauty of holiness, in heaven and on earth.
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Bow down before Him, His glory proclaim;
With gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
Kneel and adore Him: the Lord is His name!
[i] Rev John Samuel Monsell died when he fell from the roof of his church whilst renovation work was underway. A sad incident which ought to remind all clergy to step with great care in consequence of the gravity of their elevated ecclesiastical position.
[ii] Genesis 1:27 “So God created humanity in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
[iii] "If you're pretty, you're pretty; but the only way to be beautiful is to be loving. Otherwise it's just 'congratulations about your face.” A John Mayer Tweet
[iv] John 20:27-29 “ …he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. “Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Comments