Into the Wardrobe

Pardon the play on words with the subject...I couldn't help myself. :)

I had an interesting discussion with my girlfriend awhile back. We were talking a little bit about nature -- forests and leaves, oceans and sand, wind and snow -- and how, even though neither of us are religious, when we're out in nature, we feel something that's almost spiritual. For me, it's a resonance...feelings of belonging, of wonder, of connection (of me with nature, as well as nature within itself).

I'm curious if there are any others who feel similarly. I realize most Christians would say that those feelings are connected with Jesus, like admiring the handiwork of a great artist or the craft of a builder. Of course, I don't think of it like that...the idea of a "higher power" that brought all of this together doesn't enter my mind. Instead, I tend to observe and feel it as almost a force within itself. Regardless of how it's viewed, however, the spiritual aspect of nature doesn't escape me.

I say all this at the risk of sounding all Zen or like a flower child.

From my perspective (believing Christian), nature reveals two amazing things: the glory of God, and the horror of the Fall. I see in the sunset and the limitless expanse of the sea that indeed, "the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork." It is even more so as I read Hawking's A Brief History of Time or examine the amazing photos taken by the hubble telescope (www.apod.nasa,gov/apod/archivepix.html). So yes, I sense the presence of God in nature, and for me it's not just a vague feeling but a reminder of Whom I believe.

But nature is not all as sweet and cute and elegant as the sunset or the koala bear. It is also "red in tooth and claw." It is an arena in which one life survives by taking another life, in which cruelty is as prevalent as beauty. I understand this to be, not an indictment of God's ability to create, but an indictment of what the so-called pinnacle of His creation, mankind, has done to make it foul. Paul agreed: he writes that "the whole creation groans in expectation" of the coming of the One Who can set things right.

I understand your position, John, and would not essay to say "No, you are all wrong." I only say, "I see it differently." I glean what I can of the majesty of God from nature, from the cosmos, but look forward to the day when my faith shall be sight and the One Who is coming will have set it all right again. Nature can make me feel good (or bad: I survived Hurricane Wilma). But "nature" had no answers when I was dying of substance addiction; all nature could do, then, was hint that maybe there was Someone behind it all Who could help. I was an atheist, "a person with no invisible means of support," but the One I now call God "fixed" me anyway. Rescued me from nature, as it were.

Nature is both beautiful and ugly, and it takes something or someone beyond nature to reconcile the two realities in one seamless Truth.

Pax Domini
Art

This was sent to me and it says alot how I feel.

An atheist was walking in the woods and admiring the trees, sunshine and surroundings, when all of a sudden he heard a rustling in the woods and turned to see a big bear headed his way. He started to run, but the bear also ran. The man tripped and fell down and as he rolled over and looked up he saw the bear on top of him. 'HELP ME GOD', he shouted. The woods grew quiet and a bright light shown down from above and a verse was heard...'You call on me to help you?? You who have denied me and taught others to deny me?'

You are right the man said, it would be hypocritical of me to ask you to help me. So, could you make the bear a Christian?

Everything became still.

All of a sudden the bear drops to his knees, puts his paws together and prays....

'Lord for the food I am about to recieve I give you thanks and praise in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen'

And how about the songs of birds? Sometimes it seems like a religious experience, and it certainly shows the presence of God. I am a birder and have experienced that feeling many times when hearing beautiful bird songs while walking in the woods:




Larry W.