I stole this book from my mother’s bookshelf years ago. As a young girl, I remember seeing it on our coffee table during the early ’70s. About 10 years ago when I was back home for a visit, I slipped it into my suitcase.
The author of New Every Morning is Dr. Philip E. Howard Jr. He wrote these meditations when he was the editor of the Sunday School Times. You may have heard of his daughter, Elisabeth Elliot. His son, James, did the illustrations. (If you do buy this book, make sure it has the dust jacket!) An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Howard uses nature to illustrate many biblical truths with “felicity of expression” – the term used by his friend, F. Gaebelein, in the introduction to describe Howard’s writing. I really like that phrase. A few of the situations he presents are charmingly outdated, remniscent of my parents’ era of working in the church during the ’50s and ’60s. Maybe that’s why I like it.
Here is an excerpt from his section on “The Wonders of Springtime”.
The magnificent, annual pageant of the springtime is a recurring witness to God’s faithfulness. The exquisite coloring of crocuses, forsythia, arbutus, violets, and cherry, apple and peach blossoms are the work of His hands. He raises the temperature to thaw out the ground and sends rains to soften it. He changes the dress of the weeping willow from yellow to green and the red buds of the maples into green leaves that give welcome shade. He guides and sustains the birds in their long migrations over land and sea, from the pampas of Brazil and the forests of Colombia and Ecuador to the meadows, plains , and woodlands of the States and the forests and tundras of Canada.
…as we enter another glorious springtime, let us not fail to have ears to hear and eyes to see the beauties of sound and form and color which God spreads before us with a lavish hand.
I don’t think I’ll be giving this back to my mom any time soon. Maybe I’ll have to buy her another copy to replace the one I took. Besides, Mother’s Day is just around the corner.
Oh good, another book to add to my list. It looks lovely!
Beautiful! Perfectly fitting for all the newly budding/blooming things around here!
That looks good! I meditated on His Mercies are NEW every morning for almost a year, one year! I would wake up and look for them.
We here in the South have a colorful world already with Spring arriving. Skies are Carolina Blue ( ask your husband what that means!) and tulips, daffodils, cherry trees, Bradford Pears are all in bloom. Azaelas and dogwoods follow.