The goodness of God is demonstrated in the fine-tuned and interconnected order of the world, composed of a million harmonious voices. His gratuitous kindness is shown in what he has made “since from eternity He dwelt without creatures in no less perfect a blessedness.”2 God radiates a common grace downward, pervading the universe, by his nurturing, protecting, enlivening and generating power at every moment, for God continually provides for the integrity of the universe (Colossians 1:15-17). The world is supported by his power and care. God is not just the first cause that goes back in a series of causes or movers. God loves all things through his life-sustaining agency (Hebrews 1:2-3). As Aquinas reasoned, a thing has existence, or any kind of good, only in as much as it is willed by God. To every existing thing, then, God wills some good. Hence, since to love anything is nothing else than to will good to that thing, it is manifest that God loves everything that exists.3
Indeed, God’s invisible qualities can be found in any aspect of creation (Romans 1:20). Guy Gruters, shot down in North Vietnam in 1967 and imprisoned in camps for more than five years, has shared his story with many. He and his fellow POWs struggled to hang on to hope, but at a certain time of day in his cell, through a crack in the ceiling, he saw a ray of light shining through a single leaf. There he rediscovered God, never before realizing how much beauty can be found in the smallest of things. Although he was in mental and physical anguish, his soul rejoiced in the splendor of God’s creation.