“I don’t think it is enough appreciated how
much an outdoor book the Bible is. It is a “hypaethral book,” such as Thoreau
talked about—a book open to the sky. It is best read and understood outdoors,
and the farther outdoors the better. Or that has been my experience of it.
Passages that within walls seem improbably or incredible, outdoors seem merely
natural. This is because outdoors we are confronted everywhere with wonders; we
see that the miraculous is not extraordinary but the common mode of existence.
It is our daily bread.” Wendell Berry
Wendell Berry and many other modern authors, poets,
philosophers, and theologians have noted how important nature is to our
spiritual well-being. I have written about that importance before. CLICK
HERE to read it. But today I find myself wanting to reflect on my recent trip
to Kanuga in NC. The picture is of my five-year-old daughter taking time to
herself in that beautiful place. The
picture is meaningful because it shows that even a small child can understand
the benefit of being quiet and still before God in the beauty of His creation.
Even a child can feel God’s loving presence and, having separated themselves
from the rush of the world, can better understand their place in God’s kingdom.
It makes me wonder then why we don’t do as Wendell
Berry suggests and find more time in our lives to be quiet in nature with
scripture and in prayer. Surely this would be edifying for our souls in many
ways. Or better yet, how amazing would it be to find ways to come together as
small communities in the natural world to be with God, to feel His presence,
and to study His word. Perhaps one day we will all realize the need we have to
be with God and make these times more of a regular habit than an occasional occurrence.
