Big Book, Little Book
a devotional for spring
Thank you for joining us! Before we begin our devotional, I wanted to share a Comment Highlight from last week:
On our essay about the sacred imagination, JL Gerhardt commented:
“I love this! Thrilled to have others to pursue imagination alongside.”
We’re so happy you found us, JL! JL Gerhardt posts a lovely and very thought-provoking newsletter called The Goodness. We highly recommend checking it out!
If you want to be featured in next week’s Comment Highlight, all you have to do is post a comment on any of this week’s posts or threads. That’s it!
Now, on with this week’s devotional…
each step is a page (so I hear Him say) this wooded world is wide with words; as I go, I hear the book of Creation read aloud, as by a mother; it is the voice of God reciting over me the Scripture of His delight.
The ancient Celts believed that there were two books from which one could learn about God: the “small book” of Scripture, the Bible, which could physically fit in your hands, and the “big book” of Creation, the sacred text that surrounds us every day.
In the incredible, colorful design of nature, the big book is meant to show us God’s vastness, His wildness, His creativity. And in the minute details of God working all through history—and dying for us, His beloved, so that we could be with Him—the small book is meant to show us His intimacy and depth of love.
But the most important thing is that we need both books. We cannot get the fullest picture of God by focusing only on one or the other.
This week, my question for you is simple: what book do you find yourself gravitating toward? Are you more comfortable sitting with your Bible than you are looking for God out in nature? Does the vastness, wildness, untamed-ness of God worry or frighten you?
Or on the other hand, do you find nature to be more inspiring and less convicting than the Bible? Does the intimacy of God make you nervous?
Ultimately, what we must determine is this: how do we find the balance of “reading” both books in our lives, and letting God speak to us in unique ways through each?
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The "Big Book" metaphor really resonates with me. I just returned from driving 3000 miles along the West coast of the U.S. (from Seattle to Phoenix and back), and seeing the snow-covered mountains, rich green farmland, and rejuvenated forest fire areas (at 80 mph with the windows down and CD playing) felt like church. It was certainly a spiritual experience, rich with opportunity for prayer and reflection. Thanks for your post this week, which is very timely for me.
I love this idea of two books. I think in different stages of life I’ve gravitated to one over the other, but now well into my 30s I’ve found just how much they work together! Each book illuminates the other. For me, there is nothing better than reading the “small book” while sitting in the “big book”! When I read scripture sitting by my window, it helps what I’m reading leap off the pages and into the world around me. And when I’m walking through the woods, things I read on those pages become clearer. One of the beauties of Scripture, aka meditation literature.