Divinity in Nature

This is a poem, but for me it is a prayer that comes to my mind almost every time I step outside. Every word of it could have come from my very soul.

 

"I thank you God for this most amazing day, 

for the leaping greenly spirits of the trees, 

and for the blue dream of sky

 and for everything which is natural, 

which is infinite, which is yes."

~ E.E. Cummings

    So, I found a shrine. I am a Christian and so that may sound sacrilegious to you. I certainly don't mean it that way, and I don't feel that God will take it that way. After all, he knows our hearts, and I had nothing but the purest intentions.
    You see, I was walking in the field and I saw this tree. I walk past here all the time and do not remember this opening in the trunk. So perfect, so beautiful...

 " Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant,
 and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy." Psalm 96:11-12 NIV

    My mind said, It looks like an alcove. It looks like a tiny shrine. And I immediately wanted to put something inside to celebrate what I was feeling. What I was feeling was gratitude, awe, peace, fullness. This is what my heart thrums with when I go outside. When I go to church I hear the words of God; I commune with Him when I take the bread and the cup. I feel the fellowship of my brothers and sisters. I feel His love. 

   But when I am outside I see God. I see his handiwork everywhere and it never fails to move me. I can simply see white clouds moving across a blue sky and be overcome with the beauty. There doesn't have to be anything "out-of-the-ordinary" for me to be struck. Driving by a pasture with grass so green it could have given the crayon it's name, dotted with pure black cows. Seeing buds swelling, filled with promise. Birds wheeling high up in the sky. A dandelion emerging from a crack in the concrete. Every little bit of it is a God-thing and should make us look about in wonderment. Is it wrong to revel in the infinite intricacies of nature?

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." Job 12:7-10 NIV

    So, is it wrong to have a place outdoors, a place where I imagine God? I am reminded of all the times in the Bible when people built a monument of stones to mark the fact that they were standing on Holy ground. Perhaps every single inch of ground where we feel His presence is holy.

    Meister Eckhart said, "If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is Thank You, it will be enough." That is what I think when I take away the wilted bouquet and replace it with a new blossom...

Just, Thank you.

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- 

 have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made." ~Romans 1:20 (NIV)