Reading Nature

 

“Reason and the divine spirit do not speak audibly or strikingly enough from a human being – stone, trees, animals must speak in order to make the human being feel himself and make himself reflect.” Novalis, Logological Fragments II

It has been a wet and rainy spring here in the Pacific Northwest. The lawn has grown tall, lush, and green; the flowerbeds have been overrun by weeds, which I find so strange, as weeds don’t have legs. Nevertheless, weeds have combined in such a way to cast doubt on whether or not we have flower beds. One could argue, “It’s a jungle out there!”

Hail hits deck and yard recently; crabgrass thrives!

I don’t mind, of course. This morning the sun is shining; there is a light breeze blowing over the yard, removing the dew at a clip that seems unreasonably rushed. Birds of all sorts (sparrows, crows, thrushes, robins, blue jays) have been hopping around the grass and beds greedily pecking and snapping up all of the culinary delights they can find. Birds are dancing along fence tops; some seeking mates, others warning off interlopers, and some (I suspect) just dancing and singing because they can. Not one of them holds a sign offering to sing or dance for pay; they do so because the Spirit moves them to.

I’ve been reading Barbara Brown Taylor’s book, An Altar in the World, and am reminded of how easy it is to get caught up in the busy-ness of life that we forget to stop, pause, and reflect on what’s happening around us. It’s easy for me to think, for instance, having devoted the better part of four decades to preaching, teaching, praying, worshiping, and leading congregations that I have somehow, in that process, worshiped God.

I have, of course; but there’s more to worship than the rites and rituals to which we’ve become accustomed (and attached). There is seeing and appreciating the divine in the world around us. If God is all in all, as we say we believe, then we ought to be able to sit still and listen for the still, small voice of God whispering sweet lullabies. 

I’ll admit I spend far too much time living inside my head. No, Socrates and Einstein need not fear they’ll have to move over in the Great Hall of Mental Giants. What I mean is that if one were to look inside my head, they would find words, thoughts, and ideas constantly bouncing around and ricocheting off of one another like a perpetual shoot-out at the OK corral. 

With all those pings, pews, and whiz-bangs flying around in there, I seldom stop long enough to truly appreciate the world around me. I don’t mean to neglect the outer world; it’s just hard to focus on what’s happening outside when one is busy dodging mental bullets inside.

Ms. Taylor, though, encourages her readers to do just that. She’s not spouting a cliche, telling us to stop and smell the roses. She’s inviting us to take time to consider – really consider – the wonders of the world around us. 

I was looking at the lawn the other day, for instance, and noting how long it had grown. But I also noted how much quack grass was mixed in with the regular grass. Admittedly, I don’t know my fescues from my Montagues, but my initial reaction was wanting to hit the lawn with some sort of weed and feed.

But then I wondered, why should I try to rid the lawn of the other varieties that have snuck in over time to become part of the lawn? When I was growing up, lawns included about 25% clover. Clover wasn’t considered a weed, but actually was intended to help the lawn stay green when the normal grasses were going dormant in late summer. 

Why must our lawns be green? Why must we rid our lawns and flower beds of those things we (artificially) call weeds? Do not weeds return oxygen to the air we breathe? Do weeds not produce flowers that feed the bees, and nectar for hummingbirds? 

All of this is just a start, of course, but those are the questions that arise as I consider God’s handiwork. I don’t hold the world in near-enough awe; consequently, I don’t hold Adonai in near-enough awe. I want to rethink how I read nature and our Creator here in this, our valley.

Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available through Amazon in Print and e-book)