Part V - Respect Nature

2.  Gentle Down by Savoring Creation

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)

Beauty is before me and beauty is behind me.  Above and below me hovers the beautiful.  I am surrounded by it.  I am immersed in it.  In my youth I am aware of it.  And in old age I shall walk quietly the beautiful trail.  (Navajo Prayer from Earth Prayers, by Elizabeth Roberts, San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1991)

The enjoyment of earthly beauty is not just the inheritance of or reward for those who are already meek; it is a path by which we can become meek.  The familiar phrase "Music soothes the savage beast" can be equally applied to nature; beauty, too, soothes the savage beast in us.

We all have the potential for violent eruption.  After a frustrating day at work or school, for example, with traffic jammed, and weather or accidents altering our plans-one of those terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad days--we feel our threshold for an angry outburst not far away.  At times like that, we need to gentle down.  We need a place and moment of beauty, enhanced perhaps with gentle music.  This daily "sabbatical," perhaps only ten or fifteen minutes, does for our spirits what the Sabbath does for our week.

The curative, gentling power of nature is so evident in the beauty of a flower; a garden, a special plant, or a simple tree.  Sitting in silence with this beauty releases the tension built up over a hectic or frustrating day.  Such silent sitting also helps orient our day at sunrise.   Nature's power for gentling us down in an effective antidote to the violence we find in ourselves.

I recommend the following places for such beauty.  First, I recommend a place in your home or apartment--perhaps just a special flower or a picture of beauty--where you can absorb some beauty every day of the year.  I suggest this for your work place as well.  Second, I recommend a space outdoors where you can enjoy some natural beauty whenever the season and weather permits.  Third, I recommend that you see out special places in your community--like parks, gardens, trails--where you can enjoy a weekly sabbatical to gentle down.   Finally, I recommend special places of beauty when traveling--places that generate and nurture a peaceful spirit.

Jesus lives most of his active ministry outdoors; he prays in gardens and on mountaintops, and preaches on hillsides and lakeshores.  His manner and message are enhanced by his surroundings, and his listeners are offered wholeness in the wholesomeness of the hillsides.  The gentle spirit and power of Francis and Clare of Assisi were similarly nurtured outdoors in communion with God's creation.

Prayer:  Jesus, Francis, and Clare, lure us into the beauty of creation where we can be gentled and healed.  Help us add some senseless acts of beauty to some random acts of kindness we commit each day.  And help us take some of the many opportunities we have to lead our children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews into this world of beauty and gentleness.

Reflection:  What opportunities does natural beauty offer you for a daily, weekly, and yearly gentling down and healing?  How can you make natural beauty more a part of the lives of all the people to whom you are close?

Songs:  "Simple Gifts" (Rainbow People...); "Peace Is Flowing Like a River" (Carey Landry); "Rocky Mountain High" (John Denver)

Books:  The Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson (New York: Harper and Row, 1965), T/A; One Light, One Son by Raffi (New York: Crown, 1988), WF

Videos:  Brother Sun, Sister Moon (the life of Francis of Assisi), WF

Violence Ends Where LOVE Begins.