The miracle, power and beauty of nature never disappoints me June. ;D I think it is fair to say that part of my understanding comes from nature.
How & why God created such incredible & beautiful 'things' in nature brings me a terrific amount of peace and reassurance & hope. I have three squirrels on my deck right now, eating the bird seed & making my cats crazy. Whenever I see them I usually thank God for making such cute little "pests." They always make me smile with their fluffy tails & soft-looking white bellies & twitchy noses.
LOL... I feel the same way about squirrels Joy. Most hate them and call them pests, and trust me I have lost a lot of flower bulbs to them, but they always put a smile on my face with how cute they are. ;D
They're great acrobats, too, hanging upside down by their toes to get the last seed from the feeder. If I remember right you guys have bigger squirrels than we do down here though. Ours are grey & ... oh ... maybe 12-14 inches long with half that being tail. (This is a squirrel-jacking, sorry June. ;D)
I love squirrels too. We have walnut and hickory trees in the yard. Need I say more! They are quite clever and I swear they wink at me as they steal the seed that sits high above the 'squirrel baffle'. And they are the most outstanding athletes. I often wonder if the feeder acrobat is just one particularly adept individual or they are all doing it. I ought to put a spot of paint on his tail so I could see. As if I had a prayer of getting that close. Even my dog does not bother chasing squirrels. She knows she's never going to catch one.
I can see how the wonders of nature could be affirming of a belief system but the sense I am talking about is different for me. It is the greatest expression of the order of the universe that is made known to me. It is not a bambi-like appreciation of this or that pretty flower or cute animal. It is the magnificence of the world - big W - laid bare for me to see. It dwarfs anything any preacher or scholar ever said. For me it encompasses all of us and makes explanation in words entirely inadequate and unnecessary. It makes me completely clear that I do not stand above and evaluate and explain the universe but that I am a tiny tiny part of it. My place in it is as true and deserving as the squirrel. I am here to do my part and when my day is done, I will be taken care of in the correct way just as every other living thing is. It brings great comfort in hard times to know I am where I am meant to be, doing what I am meant to be doing. I know others who have exactly this sense. Some are adherents to particular faiths and some are not. Conversely, most of the people I know, religious or not, say 'huh?' if I describe this sense and I know it is a waste of time and energy to try to explain. I think it is something that tends to be hardwired or not. I was just wondering if there were any others here who had that sense.
I totally get what you are saying June. I feel what you feel. I think you did a really great job trying to describe it.
June - part of mine comes from nature. I love sitting in the woods, or watching as my goats give life to their young, or sitting by the lake, creek, stream, ocean... and seeing the handiwork of God. For me, it adds to my understanding, but it is His "art" and only reveals one part of the Divine.
I feel closest to God when I'm walking down the beach and seeing a beautiful sunrise. It's like God painted this wonderful picture for everyone to experience. The sight, sound, and smell.....the feel of the sand on my feet....
Yes. It's about a ten-minute drive. I usually drive a few extra minutes to get to the part of the beach where there are no tourists, just surfers and locals walking and swimming.
I love to visit the beach. I'm from the hills and hollers inland so it is a completely different world but a wonderful one. The sea is awesome. Have you been snorkeling off sw FL? Talk about something that will fill you with wonder.
I find myself coming here today in my need for peace. I look at the world and see all that is in nature and it makes me feel so grateful that I am a small part of this huge thing that moves and grows and spins and covers us with beauty. Natural beauty that comes from somewhere deep within the knowledge of nature. From the moss that grows freely in my own small slice to the sky that gives the sun, air and rain to keep the beauty alive for me to see. June, you put it so beautifully - I can't add words that even come close to how I feel about how and what you wrote. I get it. I really do. To be a part of something so huge and know that I belong to it and am part of it. I belong to it and it, in turn, belongs to me for a short while - to see it and feel that part is to see my place in the world as something to be held in awe and to be grateful for it.
from somewhere deep within the knowledge of nature. I think that says it beautifully, Holly. There is something about being with nature, choosing to see it whereever I am, that brings me comfort in the hardest times. I know you are in a difficult time. I hope you are able to find a nice quiet comfortable place to sit and let the solace soak in.
I used to scuba dive and surf. I've chased waves and reefs in many countries but the most peace I've found in God's nature is the gengle flow of the Gulf when the Summer months come. The water temperature is in the mid-80s and the warm salt water melts the stress in my muscles and clears my mind. I drive across the State for mini-vacations each Summer. My favorite place to stay is in Sarasota in a gulf-front motel. I wake up when the sun rises and walk the beach. I do nothing and everything. I soak in the gulf, eat fresh fish, and watch the sun set from my balcony. I have a CD of the ocean and other nature sounds. I play it to shed the day before going to bed. It's quite like white noise I'm so used to it.
