fbcslo | spiritual formation

practices for loving God

Attending to Nature
Desire
To purposefully recognize and rejoice in the glory of God displayed in His creation

Definition
Attending to nature is a practice of looking, as with new eyes, at the wonderful things God has made all around us, and enjoying the glory He has revealed in physical things. It is also an attempt to remember that physical creation is intimately upheld by God.

Scripture
Psalm 19:1-2The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. Romans 1:1920For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. Hebrews 1:3 He upholds the universe by the word of his power Acts 17:27-28 Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for In him we live and move and have our being. Revelation 4:11 Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.

Devotional
One of the primary sources of inspiration and delight in God, throughout the ages, has been the physical world. As we watch the play of violent surging colors in a sunset, the rhythm of crashing waves, the intricacy of the smallest organisms and the magnificence of the far-flung planets and stars, we are moved by the greatness we see. And yet we are also capable of forgetting all about these wonders, ducking our heads and going about our daily tasks. Particularly todayfor we live with a deep-rooted sense that physical objects are just there, taken for granted. The worldview that pervades our culture reduces Gods involvement out of the material world, and this affects everyone, even those who believe that God created all things. It is now a task for us to see the physical world as deeply dependant on Gods continual work. We do not sense that He upholds the universe by the word of His power. But this has also reduced out our sense of marvel, and we have lost the joy that children have in the mysterious being of everything. That anything is, should astound us! And cause us to praise God. The late Clyde Kilby, an English professor at Wheaton, wrote this series of resolutions as a way of keeping himself alive to God in nature: 1. At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me. 2. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle and an end. I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death, when he said: There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendour, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing. 3. I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood. 4. I shall not turn my life into a thin straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do. 5. I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

6. I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic existence. 7. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder. 8. I shall follow Darwins advice and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music. 9. I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Charles Williams suggested, fulfill the moment as the moment. I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now. 10. Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega.

Questions for Reflection

1. What in the material world most frequently leads you to praise God? What is that move you about this? 2. Read over Clyde Kilbys resolutions. Choose one or two which stand out to you. What would you do differently in your daily life to put this resolution into effect?

Practicing
Here are a few exercises for attending to nature: Set aside a few hours on some upcoming day when you can go and be in the outdoors. Go to a place which delights you. Take a bottle of water, some snacks, anything else you might need in order not to have to leave early. While you are there, aim at soaking in as much sensory experience as you can. Listen to the sounds, consider the scents. Feel the texture of the earth, the leaves (be careful, of course, not to touch poison oak!). As you are there, move slowly and deliberately; let your eyes linger on things a bit longer than you ordinarily would. Sum up your time with gratitude to God for allowing you the experiences youve had. Rent the Planet Earth video series and watch it with friends. Discuss together what things you saw moved you the most. End with praise to God for His wisdom in creation. Go sit by a creek and watch. Stay on the lookout for anything that might happen. Explore the lives of the insects around you. Consider the effect of the moving water on the terrain. Try to stay still enough for a period of time to allow creatures to come out that would ordinarily hide from humans. Take a day to move slowly. Walk to work, if you are able, setting out early enough that you can go slowly. Every time you are outdoors, slow down and look. Observe everything you can, and examine anything that interests you. For one day, dont worry about appearing silly for looking at flowers or insects or the sky. Plan and make, with friends, a delicious meal. Eat slowly, savoring the smells and tastes. Consider the gift of taste, that our daily sustenance can also bring us such great pleasure. Pray after the meal, thanking God for all the enjoyment youve had in the preparation and enjoyment of the meal. Sit with some physical object at hand and consider that it is, this moment, upheld by the will of God. Linger with it long enough for you to sense the marvel of its existence.