This Good Earth
Genesis 1

Azaleas!  How did God ever think of azaleas?  Or lilies, or roses, or—but I’m really taken with azaleas.  It’s azalea season and they’re in full bloom.  The whites cover the bushes with snow.  The reds are so rich they drip rubies.  The pinks, purples and watermelons add riotous color to the mix.  
How did God ever think of azaleas?  Their delicate, paper-thin blossoms don’t look sturdy enough to last for a day, yet they stay on the bushes for weeks.  Even when they fall they glorify the ground on which they lie.  How did God ever think of azaleas?
I feel sorry for people who don’t believe that God created the heavens and the earth—and azaleas.  They don’t have anyone to thank—anyone to be grateful to.  They believe that all this happened by accident, that azaleas just—came into being; that somehow a lot of azalea atoms came together by chance; that all this beauty that surrounds us just happened on its own.  I don’t have that kind of faith.

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