Last Saturday Luci and I eked out a couple hours and went to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. We arrived there as the sun shown brightly and the temperature approached 60 degrees. For a February day in the Northwest it was a rare window of spring within the season of winter. We saw Bald Eagles and Blue Herons, American Bitterns, Bufflehead Ducks and many other wonderful creatures, each seemingly as delighted by the day as we were.
The more I recall what I experienced, the more I’m sure I was brought near God and refreshed by grace. The beauty was big. Mount Rainerwas reflecting its snow. We walked the new boardwalk over tidal waters which reflected the blue of the sky, along with a small collection of wispy clouds. The varieties of trees were reaching up in spite of the stress of the recent storm. And, perhaps, the most unusual sensation for this time of year, the warm sun was enveloping us with both heat and light.
Since the beauty was on such a grand scale and we were just in it, I didn’t understand at first why my mood was lifted, my spirit encouraged and my life seemed so opened up to new possibility. From the most inward notion of my soul to the words Luci and I exchanged, to the distant Olympic Mountain range, I was refreshed and lifted.
So easy it is to forget to be connected with the earth and all its beauty. So easy it is to forget that our spirituality is intimately connected to the planet. We can drain ourselves of life by isolating ourselves from the natural world, yet it is designed and made beautiful by our Creator who originally placed us in a garden.
Recently I listened to Krista Tippett’s podcast “OnBeing,” an American Public Radio program. In 2007 she interviewed the late theologian and philosopher John O’Donohue. This interview was edited and posted last week. I was familiar with O’Donohue having taught a couple years ago on beauty partly using his book called “Beauty; The Invisible Embrace.” In the interview, O’Donohue says: “I think that beauty is not a luxury, but I think that it ennobles the heart and reminds us of the infinity that is within us.” And later in the interview . . .
. . . beauty isn't all about just nice, loveliness like (sic). Beauty is about more rounded substantial becoming. And I think when we cross a new threshold that if we cross worthily, what we do is we heal the patterns of repetition that were in us that had us caught somewhere. And in our crossing then we cross on to new ground where we just don't repeat what we've been through in the last place we were. So I think beauty in that sense is about an emerging fullness, a greater sense of grace and elegance, a deeper sense of depth, and also a kind of homecoming for the enriched memory of your unfolding life.
Peace, Pastor David
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