Nature as Revelation

John Burroughs wanted people to go outside and enjoy the nature that existed around them wherever they were, whether this was forest, farmland, ocean, desert, or a city park. He was concerned that people were staying indoors too much. He wrote this in the late 1800s. I think he’d be more concerned today.

We drive rather than walk to the local grocery. New developments often don’t have sidewalks, or neighborhood groceries. Most of our houses don’t have porches for sitting and chatting with neighbors walking by. We don’t linger after dinner to watch the sun set over the trees, or the moon rise. Our children don’t go outside to play, and many are afraid of being alone in the woods.

There are different reasons why we go into nature.

Nature as a backdrop for our activities.

We use the outdoors as a place for getting exercise — hiking, riding bikes, canoeing, playing baseball, soccer, golf, or skiing. Most of us need the exercise, so this is good, but we often neglect to pause in our activities and observe what nature is doing around us. Were there deer present, or birds, or a stream?

Nature as science

Some of us like to spend hours figuring out how nature works. We look at it analytically and pull out guide books to identify trees, plants, and birds. We examine the scratches that glaciers left behind. We take measurements of air and water to record matters dealing with global warming, mega-farm pollution, the effects of fracking, and the disappearance of the bees. We view nature is an experiment in process.

Nature as therapy

Nature is a place where we go to get away, unwind, relax. We feel renewed by the fresh air, the unhurried pace, and the quietness of the outdoors. We let our minds wander where they want and discover insights and reclaim forgotten dreams. When we return home, we are energized and full of ideas.

Nature as inspiration

In places like our national parks, preserved because of their outstanding scenery, we are inspired by the dramatic beauty and the intricate diversity of life in the wild. Sometimes we see lightning flash off the tops of mountains during thunderstorms, or tiny trout swimming under the ice in the river.

Some of us feel spiritual outdoors, as if we were seeing the untouched remnants of Creation. We’re aware of a greater power, and sometimes we feel awe. We look for transcendence when we’re in nature, because we need to be reminded that we are part of something much greater than our individual, city-bound l lives.

Nature as relationship

We can also develop a relationship with nature, rising with the sun and going to bed when it sets. We can interact with each season differently, and treat nature as a friend instead of an adversary. It was only after John Muir forgot his plant press one day that he was forced to look at Yosemite as a whole, and felt a personal connection that he nurtured for the rest of his life.

The more we go in nature, the more we discover about ourselves. And when we love nature, we care what happens to it.

Nature reveals who we are, and uncovers longing for whom we want to be.