To read the book of nature, you have to actually pay attention – go out and fill your gaze with the stars, or a forest, or a deer. Without this practice, the book is illegible, and it is difficult to make sense of the psalmist’s claim that the “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Similarly, it will be hard to follow the apostle Paul’s argument that “what can be known about God is plain to [human beings], because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”

What can nature tell us about how to live within it?