“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 improbable 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.”
The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays ―
I went to the gym this morning, a good day to do so because the forecast calls for rain throughout. It may not be the best ending for Take Me Outside Week in this neck of the woods, but we've experienced some fine days over the last seven and made sure we did some exploring. https://takemeoutside.ca/tmoday/2023resources/
Two of our grandchildren were with us last weekend and we spent a few hours rambling around a gem of a Conservation Area to the north of Belleville. They love being outside, and we love exploring with them. One got a soaker in the river and didn't care, the other climbed trees and scared her grandparents. On one stretch of a trail we all kicked through the leaves to make the quintessential noisy swish of Autumn.
Paddling on the Moira River -- Ruth Mundy
During the week the two of us went to another Conservation Area and had a somewhat less boisterous ramble with a contemplative quality to it. Yesterday we canoed a favourite stretch of a nearby river and got close to a mature bald eagle which took to the air from a perch high in a dead tree. We did all this before we were aware that this is Take Me Outside Week!
I love the quote by Wendell Berry and I've used it often. I would also affirm the contention of theologians through the ages that God is revealed in two books, the other being Creation. When we are in the natural or created world we are opened to a prayerful way of being which can both soothe our souls and stir us to action.
I notice that today, Friday, is suggested as a day of reflection, so, as the needed rain falls we can ponder what it means to be Groundlings, connected with the Earth, or Turtle Island. When you get a chance, take yourself outside -- for God's Sake!
The beauty of the trees, the softness of the air,
the fragrance of the grass, speaks to me.
The summit of the mountain, the thunder of the sky,
the rhythm of the sea, speaks to me.
The faintness of the stars, the freshness of the morning,
the dew drop on the flower, speaks to me.
The strength of fire, the taste of salmon,
the trail of the sun, and the life that never goes away,
They speak to me. And my heart soars.
My Heart Soars -- Chief Dan George
Autumn Sky -- Ruth Mundy
No comments:
Post a Comment