9The Lord is good to all,
and his compassion is over all that he has made.
10All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your faithful shall bless you.
Psalm 145:9-10
Some time ago, I listened attentively as author and radio host Dennis Prager interviewed biblical scholar and MIT trained physicist, Dr. Gerald Schroeder. After discussing arguments for the existence of God, Prager asked Dr. Schroeder: “Assuming that God exists, what is the best argument that God is good?”
Without a pause Schroeder fired back, “Chocolate! The best argument that God is good, is chocolate! Chocolate didn’t have to taste so wonderful, but a good God wanted us to enjoy.”
Dr. Schroeder’s comments came to me this afternoon as Rita and I walked and we stopped to savor the beauty and fragrance of a rose in the golden glow of sunset. I thought again of our good God as we stopped by the lake to marvel at five gaggles of geese taking to the air in orderly V formations. “God didn’t have to make all of this so sublime and stunning,” I thought. But he did so because he is good. The blazing stars, the laughter of a child, a melody that fills our souls, all speak to us of God’s goodness. It is just as the psalmist exults, “the LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.”
But as I now write, I realize that for each good work of God we had to stop – we had to stop to see, stop to savor, and stop to enjoy. Days pass and the years vanish and we walk sightless among God’s wonders because we will not stop to see and stop to enjoy.
Years ago I began to learn the wonder and awareness taught in ancient Judaism as an observant Jew was trained to stop three times a day to stop and to pray:
We thank Thee…
For Thy miracles which are daily with us…
For Thy continual marvels…
I notice how much richer and more joyous life is when I stop to see, stop to savor, and stop to be astounded by God’s daily miracles and marvels. Try it the next time you see the sun coming up, or bite into an orange, or listen to a melody. It didn’t all have to be so wondrous and dazzling. But God wanted it to be for you and me!
The LORD is good to all!
Grace and Peace, Tim Smith
