For Nature Lovers

[JimR-OCDS]

Many of the saints were very much in love with nature, for they saw God’s creating hand all around them.

Many of us here in this forum are also lovers of nature. My wife Gail and myself, live out in the country, at a lake, were we’re surrounded with a huge forest, where we can walk across the Massachusetts line, into New Hampshire, to Mt Monadnock.

As a result, we have plenty of wild life in our yard, which we pretty much left as natural as possible. We’ve had deer, moose, coyote, owls and all sorts of birds, and this past fall, a black bear has been roaming around.

Anyway, I thought I’d open a thread for Nature Lovers, and how it relates to your spiritual perspective.

I want to share with you a link to a reflection written by a friend of mine, Fred Schaeffer, SFO, who was once a monk in ethersham, Ma. He titled the reflection, “Seasons of the Soul.”

franciscan-sfo.org/p1/seasons.htm

Enjoy!

Jim

 

[JMJ_coder]

Hello,

My wife Gail and myself, live out in the country, at a lake, were we’re surrounded with a huge forest, where we can walk across the Massachusetts line, into New Hampshire, to Mt Monadnock.

Lucky!!!

I hope someday to have several acres…but with the price of land.

 

[Joysong]

This is a very lovely idea, Jim. How fortunate you are to be in these beautiful surroundings! Some who live in the stark world of concrete always appreciate a walk in the woods.

I cannot count the many teachings God has imparted to me through nature which have had a profound effect on me spiritually. My love for gardening has probably been His best vehicle for Him to use in touching my heart.

In my early ventures into this, I thought that beauty was best achieved in uniformity. So I carefully dug holes across an entire length of bedding, exactly 6 inches apart, 4 rows deep, and inserted one yellow tulip bulb in each. How disappointed I was! Much later, I learned to arrange a multitude of bulbs in groupings, each coming to flower at different times to extend the beauty, with assorted colors, sizes, shapes and height.

It spoke to me about rigidness in casting individuals into identical modes, all one color, all one size, all perfectly arranged, nothing out of order. God’s view of creation is infinitely more magnificent and splendorous than to be that confining and restrictive.

I learned about ‘timing’ … that each seed requires a different germination period before it opens its shell and begins to grow, as do people, and I have acquired patience in my prayer for them. As for the flower itself, some need shade, others need sun, many need a mixture. Maybe that’s why we have actives and contemplatives - both work together to bring about the Kingdom in different callings.

Just a little reflective rambling.

 

[John_Russell_Jr]

I like the clouds at different times. Magnificent!

 

[Biblioassistant]

I majored in biology in college. The more I found out, the more in awe I was of God. Life is so complex and so balanced. It seems impossible that it would just have sprung up by itself.

Gerard Manly Hopkins put it best:

“The World Is Charged With the Grandeur of God”

 

[Feedmysheep]

I’m in a formation class called “Disciples of Jesus and Mary”, and part of the process includes “Nature Prayer”, which is, simply put, the practice of praising God as inspired by the glories of His creation.

There’s very few things like seeing the Milky Way to inspire some of the most sincere prayers of thanksgiving I ever offer.

 

[Teeliumtrozzle]

Wow, what a beautiful reflection! Actually I’ve been looking for a book to read about nature and God.