All Things Bright and Beautiful

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
God made their glowing colors,
God made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset, and the morning
That brightens up the sky.

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
God made them ev'ry one.

God gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell,
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

by Cecil F. Alexander  1818-1895

My two youngest children and I were invited to go to the St. Louis zoo with a friend, and she taught us this song before we went with her to the zoo.  Our friend has two grand pianos, and she taught me this song so I was able to play along with her on the banjo.  Our tour of the St. Louis zoo was very memorable, the highlight being two elephants swimming and playing in the water.  These two elephants  kept dunking each other like little children at play.  The variety of  colors were spectacular, from bright pink flamingos to the crested cranes from East Africa, the striped zebras and okapis to the golden lion.  It was very fitting to sing this song before going to see so many of God's creatures and remember whose hand wrought such creativity.