Nature Prayer - Our Practice for May at L.V.

 

How many times have you heard or even said something like, “I feel so much closer to God in nature, when I’m outdoors.” This deeper sense of the divine in the out of doors runs across religious lines and across all cultures and even time periods. Our ancient ancestors felt this same way, as is evidenced in some of the Hebrew psalms. Psalm 19 notes that “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” The 24^th Psalm begins, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it; for He founded it on the seas and established it upon the waters.”

Jesus embodied a faith that was also profoundly tied to the natural world. His parables spoke of flowers and bird; he asked us to consider the lilies of the field as well as the sparrow. He compared his kingdom to a mustard seed and to leaven. Virtually all his teaching took place by lakes and on mountains, places where God’s grandeur was on full display.

St. Francis was one of our most influential prophets when it came to understanding God in nature. He believed that God’s love literally surged through all things. Francis took literally the common Christian claim that “we are all one in Christ.” He observed quite accurately that even the air we breathe is common, completely and literally shared by all living beings. The air that I take into my lungs includes and is mixed with the air that has been in and out of your lungs, the same air that the trees have used and continue to draw from for their oxygen supply. Expanding and extending Francis’ observation allows us to see why he could feel so connected to birds and every other creature.

So nature is, in many ways, the most appropriate context and setting for prayer. It reminds us – or should remind us – of our ultimate interdependence, unity, and vulnerability. Literally every spiritual practice that we have undertaken this year in Living Vision can be practiced outside. But this month we turn our attention to a practice that actually begins with nature as the impetus and focus of our prayer and reflection.

We begin, as always, by expressing our intention of experiencing God in nature and in the silent time we are about to spend in it. At this particular meeting, since we are indoors, I have brought a bit of nature inside to focus and guide our reflection – a dandelion, a little patch of moss, and a few flowers. Our second step is to cast our focused attention on one of the natural items. We draw upon our previous practice of focused attention and observe the item like a scientist, artist, or writer, looking at it from every perspective and with profound clarity. Our third step is to allow our minds to consider the entire life process that brought this living thing to its current form. Include all the natural forces and other creatures that had a hand in its creation and development – soil, sun, rain, other trees, insects, etc. Finally, we turn all of these intentions, observations, and thoughts into praise and thanksgiving for the Creator, the Author of this amazing life we are observing and sharing in.

As with all our disciplines and practices, the ultimate purpose of what we do here is that it trains us to be equally observant and tuned in to nature every time we are out taking a walk, every time we look out a window, and at every sunrise and sunset. In other words, we practice these disciplines in discrete moments so that they will bleed into the rest of our lives in a natural, almost involuntary way.

* This coming Tuesday, May 15, we will practice this nature prayer with an item of food. You won’t believe how it will revolutionize and spiritualize your eating and meal preparation. Join us at Yoga Roots at 444 E. Mitchell from 7:30-8:30 pm. Hope to see you there! As always, all are welcome and if you have any questions, just contact Toby at tobyjones48@gmail.com.