Nature As Revelation

John Burroughs wanted people to go outside and enjoy the nature that existed around them wherever they lived, whether this was farmland, forest, 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, because we drive, rather than walk, to the local grocery, if we still have a local grocery. New housing developments often don’t have sidewalks. 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 see the moon rise. Our children don’t go outside to play, and many are afraid of being alone in the woods.

When we go into nature, we do so for a variety of reasons.

Nature as the 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 a stream? What color were the birds?

Nature as science

Some of us like to spend hours figuring out how nature works. We look at it analytically, pulling out guide books to identify trees, plants, and birds. We pick up rocks and try to decide if the glaciers left them. 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 a living laboratory.

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, reclaim forgotten dreams, and discover insights. When we return home, we are energized.

Nature as inspiration

In places like our national parks, preserved because of their outstanding scenery, we are inspired by the dramatic beauty and the diversity of life to take the next step in our lives. We’re fill with ideas. Sometimes we see lightning flash off the tops of mountains during thunderstorms, and tiny trout swim under the ice in the river.

Nature as spiritual

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

Nature as relationship

We can develop a relationship with nature through any of these activities. We can also make having a relationship with nature the focus of our being outside, rising with the sun and going to bed when it sets. We 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 journey into nature is also a journey inside. Go into nature and discover who you are.

When we let ourselves love nature, we care what happens to it.