Thanks be to God.

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38)

Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!

Thanks to him who laid the foundations and set the planets spinning; who coded molecules to make the seed from which all life has unfolded and blossomed. In this time of nanotechnology, that people could still believe that the complexity and of the molecules of life could self-assemble out of a system tending toward entropy and for billions of years oppose it, organizing, creating and storing information and passing it into the future. Only people too proud to repent, or accept guidance and correction, could really convince themselves that there is no creator.

Even in a fallen world where floods, tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquakes and storms occur, there is indescribable beauty and joy. There are babies, who seize life with both hands, both feet and their mouths. There are young people discovering and testing the limits of what they can do and think, pairing off and building families of their own. There are parents missing their children who have flown the nest and yet treasuring the memories that will never happen quite the same way again. Funny how the difficulties seldom seem as bitter in retrospect as the joys keep their sweetness and grow more precious in memory. There must be an opposition in all things, but men and women are that they might have joy.

Thank you.