“Enjoy the wonder, the beauty of the universe and the things around you. Forget that we are unique and that God made us in his image, and relish the beauty and fecundity of the earth. The way things that breed wonderment”. (Montaigne)
A lovely sentiment, although Montaigne seemed to waver frequently between belief and non-belief in God, depending on mood, the weather, whatever. But never mind.
To be fair to the Christians, I don’t believe that enjoying the beauty of the earth and believing in God are at odds. All I would say is that it is not necessary to believe in God to appreciate the world’s beauty. As Douglas Adams said, “Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
Great post, Owen!