Saturday 19 May 2012

Beauty Is A Profession Of The Creator


Buffalo
I have just returned from a magnificent seven-night get away. I was fortunate to get to see some magnificent wild life. One of the highlights of the trip was a pair of Fish Eagles who graced us with a 10-minute overhead display.

Hibiscus
Here are some of the photos from my getaway. I am sure these few photos will help you to appreciate why I decided to take a break from blogging. Of course, the fact that there was no data coverage was obviously another good reason for me not to spend time online blogging.

Spending time in nature always reminds me of this from the Catechism of the Catholic Church about the ways of coming to know God:

Kudu
Created in God's image and called to know and love him, the person who seeks God discovers certain ways of coming to know him. These are also called proofs for the existence of God, not in the sense of proofs in the natural sciences, but rather in the sense of "converging and convincing arguments", which allow us to attain certainty about the truth. These "ways" of approaching God from creation have a twofold point of departure: the physical world, and the human person.

Kudu
The world: starting from movement, becoming, contingency, and the world's order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and the end of the universe.

As St. Paul says of the Gentiles: For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.  

Giraffe

And St. Augustine issues this challenge: 

Fish Eagle
Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air distending and diffusing itself, question the beauty of the sky. . . question all these realities. All respond: "See, we are beautiful." Their beauty is a profession [confessio]. These beauties are subject to change. Who made them if not the Beautiful One [Pulcher] who is not subject to change?[i]

Below are some more photo's. Hope you enjoy them.

Double-collared Sunbird

Vervet Monkey

Zebra

Ground Hornbill

Elephant
Giraffe

Giant Kingfisher


Fish Eagle
Dark-capped Bulbul


[i] Catechism of the Catholic Church, #31 and 32

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