Introductory material
Reading edition
GOD'S BOOK
"IN THE BEGINNING": CREATION
RUIN AND DARKNESS
FIRST DAY. LIGHT
SECOND DAY. THE OCEAN OF AIR
THIRD DAY. THE WORLD OF WATER
" " THE EARTH BENEATH
" " THE GREEN EARTH
FOURTH DAY. SUN, MOON, AND STARS
STORY OF A DEAF BOY WHO HEARD THE SUN PROCLAIM THE GLORY OF GOD
THE STONE BOOK
FIFTH DAY. "THE MOVING CREATURE THAT HATH LIFE"
" " "FOWL OF THE AIR, AND FISH OF THE SEA"
" " FLYING FOWL
" " CREEPING THINGS
SIXTH DAY. THE ANIMAL WORLD
" " THE CROWN OF GOD'S CREATION
"Everywhere, everywhere A tale is told to me— It is told in the sunny air, It is told on the sparkling sea.
"It is told in the forest brakes, It is told on the purple hills, By the silent mountain lakes, By the singing and leaping rills.
"In the meadows that stretch away As a sea of golden green, With hedges of sweet white may And the reedy brooks between.
"Where I wander and run and rest, The tale is told to me, The sweetest tale and the best Of all the tales that be.
* * * * *
"The tale is the tale of Jesus; It is told in heaven above, On the sea and the moors and the mountains, In language of all the peoples, The speech of love.
"The morning star and the dayspring, The sun and the cloud and the shower, The grass and the rose and the cedar, His glory and love are telling From hour to hour.
"The birds in the green wood singing, The sea that is wide and deep, The sheep in the folds of the mountains, The corn in the golden valleys, And all beside.
"All round me are glorious pictures Of him who has made them fair; Through the long bright day I can see Him, And I fear not the silent darkness, For He is there,"
—FRANCES BEVAN.
Taken, by permission, from Hymns by Ter Steegen and Others Second series.