Thank you God for a beautiful world
Purpose
The aim of this is to help people see that God's world is appreciated not just by looking at it, but by all our senses. This page is only a set of ideas that we used. Please do adapt for your group, and what you feel able to do. I talk about showing pictures because we use a projector. That is not essential. You could choose to print out the pictures, and pass them round or whatever would work in your group. Go here for some notes on technology
We divided the talk into the five senses:
- Eyes - to see the world
- Ears - to hear the world
- Touch - to feel the world
- Tongue - to taste the world
- Nose - to smell the world
Under each of the above senses, we used various pictures and things to look at, touch, taste etc. I have given you some possible ideas. After each section we simply thanked God for the world that we could appreciate using that sense.
Eyes
Show the picture of the eyes and talk about them, and what we use them for. Obviously be sensitive to those who have limited vision.
Talk about how beautiful the world is. Below you can download the pictures we used. The first two pictures are in both colour and black and white versions. Draw attention to the differences. Then show the other two scenery pictures, comment on them as appropriate. Then pray:
Thank you God for the beautiful world we can see.
Downloads:
- The picture of the eyes
- Zip file of the scenery pictures (zip file 10Mb)
Ears
Show the picture of the ears, and talk about them and what we use them for. Be aware of those with limited hearing.
Talk about the amazing things that we can hear. Below you can download four sounds to play. Birds singing, a steam train, a baby crying and cows mooing. Then pray:
Thank you God for the beautiful world we can hear.
Downloads
- The picture of the ear
- Zip file of the sounds we used. Zip file of mp3s
Touch
Show the picture of the fingers touching. Talk about the sense of touch and how important it is.
We then passed round a range of different things to demonstrate how varied touch is:
- Something soft like a fabric / toy etc
- Something rough like sandpaper or equivalent
- Something cold like metal. Ice cube if you dare!
- Something warm. We used one of those cuddly things that can be heated in the microwave.
- Something smooth. We used a smooth piece of plastic covered cardboard.
Then pray:
Thank you God for the beautiful world we can touch.
Downloads
Taste
Show the picture of the person eating the ice cream. Talk about all the many things we can taste.
We brought in a range of things like:
- Peppermint
- Salt
- Sugar
- Lemon juice
Depending on your group ask people to taste them and tell you what they are.
Then pray:
Thank you God for the beautiful world we can taste.
Downloads
Smell
Show the picture of the nose. Again, talk about what it is for, and all the things you can smell - nice and nasty!
We prepared a range of things to smell, and got people to try to guess what they were. Examples:
- Lavender / sage / Rosemary etc
- Lemons
- Cinnamon
- Pine leaves / cone
- Orange and so on
Then pray:
Thank you God for the beautiful world we can smell.
Downloads
We ended with a simple prayer like this - but up to you!
Prayer: Every animal, and every plant, Every rock and every grain of sand, all the different colours, shapes, and smells, tell us that God is Great! And God, we also want to tell you that you are great! Thank you for a wonderful world, a beautiful creation, and thank you for making me! Amen
Further resources are on the main resources page.