Day Nine - The Solace of Nature

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars that you have established;

what are human beings that you are mindful of them,

mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,

and crowned them with glory and honour.

Psalm 8:3-5

Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog, Caspar David Friedrich

1818, 94.8 cm × 74.8 cm, oil on canvas, Hamburger Kunsthalle

In the modern world it is perhaps easier than ever before to get lost in the details of life. We should always try to remember that we are, in nature, in a natural way, simply animals. I am an animal, you are animals, we are all animals. As human beings we are without argument by far the most advanced creatures on our planet. We are capable of developing and building incredible machines, creating art, music and literature for the enjoyment of others, performing incredible medical operations, and even exploring deep into space. It is this rational thinking and emotional complexity that sets us aside from the other animals. That said, we are still animals. We are in danger, in our advanced society, of concentrating solely upon that small percentage of DNA that sets us above the other animals and forgetting or dismissing the remaining which we have in common.

By studying animals, and indeed nature in general, we can very easily bring comfort, stability and enjoyment into our otherwise hectic lives. There is a myth in our consumerist world that equates material wealth with emotional happiness. We should all be wary of this; as Paul wrote in his letter to Titus, his young helper in Crete, ‘For there are many who rebel and deceive others with their nonsense. It is necessary to stop their talk, because they are teaching what they should not, and all for the shameful purpose of making money’ (Titus 1:10-11).

Yet, on every Saturday afternoon, shopping centres, and equivalent abominations throughout the land will be full to capacity, whereas many hills, rivers, beaches, parks and gardens will be comparatively empty. If one were to study the faces of the individuals in the busy town centre one would see etched lines, stress levels would be high and arguments rife. Contrast this to the demeanour of a solitary soul sitting reading beneath a tree somewhere quiet or watching a squirrel going about its business in a forest.

However, our lack of appreciation and neglect of the natural world is nothing new. In the words of one of our great poets, William Wordsworth:

The world is too much with us;

late and soon,

Getting and spending we lay waste our powers;

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away,

a sordid boon! (The World is Too Much With Us – William Wordsworth - criticises the world of the First Industrial Revolution for being absorbed in materialism and distancing itself from nature, 1807).

Do we not sometimes need to stop and think what we are doing? As the most advanced of animals we have a privilege. Whilst the blackbird, shrew, bumblebee, pheasant, rabbit, frog and roach are constantly working, searching for food and looking out for predators in order to merely survive, we all too often sit back in our comfy chairs, watch television and grumble about our lot. Is this not an abuse of our privilege? We are born as innocent as any animal, but our society taints us until we become divided, bitter and greedy. We should perhaps aim to be a little more appreciative of the gifts we have been given.

The vast majority of us are so incredibly comfortable we should perhaps attempt to help others less fortunate than ourselves, both human and animal, rather than concentrating on our own selfish lives, and when everything gets too much for us we should slow down. One of the simplest ways of doing this is to sit and watch a bird, animal, insect or fish. Admire their grace of movement, swiftness of thought, work ethic, and compare their life to our own. In comparison to them we are very lucky. We are very lucky indeed. We can find solace in nature.

We all have problems. We all have decisions to make. But none of these come close to those faced by Jesus as He sat in contemplation in Gethsemane. We hope that He found solace in His surroundings. And if this were the case, then surely we too, can find solace in nature when we are in need.

Gwyn Davies