Fear of the Lord

We may know St. Bernard as a breed of dog, but there actually is a Saint named Bernard of Menthon – and he is the patron saint of mountaineers and outdoorsmen. Born in a small Italian town in the Alps, his tutor used to take him on long hikes through the mountains, where Bernard was in awe of the grandeur and the beauty. Through the beauty of nature, he fell in love with the God Who created it, and became a priest. Later, he founded a monastery in a remote mountain pass where he and his monks could offer hospitality to travelers on the difficult journey over the mountains. They trained large dogs to help them rescue stranded travelers – dogs that later became named after the saint himself, St. Bernard.

There is an awesome power in nature to help us encounter God. Jesus reveals Himself in the calming of the storm, and Job is in awe of God’s mighty power in the forces of nature. What is it about nature that reveals God to us? Two things.

First, nature reveals God’s power – which fosters in us the “fear of the Lord”. What is “fear of the Lord?” It doesn’t mean to be afraid of God – rather, it is wonder and awe in His presence. It is a recognition that we are so small in the cosmos, and God is all-powerful.

Every year I help with Camp Veritas, a Catholic summer camp that many of our younger parishioners attend. The motto of the camp is a perfect summary of Fear of the Lord: “There is a God, and I’m not Him!”

Nature helps us to recognize this fact. We live in a world where we like to be in control. We spend lots of time and money trying to avoid risks. We control our entertainment, our health, we plan out our jobs and our family life. But can we control a thunderstorm? As much as we might try, can we stop the seasons or build a mountain? Nature is wild, untamed, powerful – and it reminds us that God is in control. Thus, it helps us develop “fear of the Lord” – that humility which recognizes God’s greatness and our nothingness. “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” it says in Scripture – because fear of the Lord puts us in the proper place in the cosmos. It helps us to realize that while we are loved infinitely and unconditionally, we are NOT the center of the universe. And being around nature helps us to realize this fact!

The second thing that nature helps us realize about God is His providence, which leads us to trust Him. Edwin Conklin, one of Einstein’s close associates, once said, “The probability of life [on this earth] arising from an accident is comparable to the probability of an unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a print shop.” Imagine that scene – a print shop explodes, with ink and letters and papers flying everywhere – and all of a sudden an unabridged dictionary randomly falls from the sky? That’s pretty far-fetched! Just as a dictionary is the product of an intelligent person who writes it, so the complexity of nature, the way in which it all fits together, the water cycle and the food chain and the rhythms of the seasons all point to a good God who arranged it and causes it to flourish.

Even Jesus uses the example of nature to show the goodness of God. “Look at the lilies of the field,” He says to His disciples. “Look at the birds of the air. If God takes care of them, how much more will He take care of us, His children made in His image!” When we consider how God arranged this beautiful, awesome (in the truest sense of the word) world of nature, we realize that He is a good Father, and we ought to trust Him.

So nature is a powerful place to encounter God. It shows us God’s power, which leads to fear of the Lord, and it shows us God’s providence, which leads us to trust Him as a Father. As the weather warms up and we have more free time this summer, disconnect from your smartphone and air-conditioned living room, and get outside to experience God in His temple, His cathedral – in the very world that He created and sustains.

12th Week in Ordinary Time/Year B, Job 38, 1, 8-11, 2 Corinthians 5:14-17, Mark 4:35-41

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Originally published at The Cross Stand While the World Turns

Photo: Pexels, Public Domain