The Lord God Made Them All!

Look at the billboard in the photo above.  The poem ends with a comma not a period, indicating that there is another line which was not included. Without the next line the poem is not only incomplete but meaningless!  Why, we must ask, are there bright & beautiful things, wise & wonderful things, Creatures great & small?  The poem by Alexander has an answer, but this billboard only has a comma.  Maybe the final line was omitted due to China's official policy of atheism.

The billboard is near the entrance to the Giant Panda Research Center near Chengdu, China.  This was the last stop on our five week travels during the long break between semesters at Sias University.  Our travels took us to Hong Kong, Australia, and Chengdu. 

The highlight was seeing our family: Cheri, Jared and grandkids: Alice, Bethany and Cameron who live in northern Australia.  We had 3 1/2  wonderful weeks with them: hiking, swimming, birthday partying, and joining with their aboriginal friends for church and for Bible study.

The second best part was enjoying all the creatures great and small along the way.  We saw giant pandas, red pandas, wallabies (small kangaroos), crocodiles, pelicans, cockatoos, peacocks, bats, snakes, termite mounds, and various fish, birds and bugs too numerous to name. We didn't see but we got to eat kangaroo and yak. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few of the creatures great and small as we saw them on our trip.  We appreciate all things and creatures because we know the completion of the poem.  Because of their Maker, they are bright, beautiful, wise and wonderful!

How sad that for many people in many countries-- not just China-- the poem is still incomplete.  The final line brings completeness to the whole picture. We hope your life-poem ends with more than a comma.  In case you've forgotten how the poem really ends:

All things Bright and Beautiful, All Creatures Great and Small, All things Wise and Wonderful,
The Lord God Made Them All!