HAVE YOU LOOKED OUTSIDE TODAY?

 In the late 1700’s there was a rabbi known as Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.  One day he saw one of his followers rush by and according to the story, the Rebbe said to the man:

“Have you looked up at the sky this morning?” 
The man replied: “No, Rebbe, I haven’t had the time.  I gotta get to the market”
“Believe me, in fifty years everything you see here today will be gone. There will another market —with other horses, other wagons, different people. I won’t be here then and neither will you. So what’s so important that you don’t have time to look at the sky?!”
(The Empty Chair, p. 14)

Taking the time to recognize and appreciate the beauties of the natural world around us is important – in fact, crucial -- to our wholeness and health.   It is something that religions – from the days when Neanderthals put flowers in the graves until now – have always acknowledged. 

For example, soon it will be the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.  It’s a harvest festival and, in remembrance of the bounty of the earth and the days when people worked in the field, Jews eat in a temporary hut outside which is beautifully decorated with fruits and vegetables.  Each person brings the branches and fruit from 4 different trees into the synagogue and waves them as blessings are recited.

In many churches around the world Sunday, October 7th, animals – cats, dogs, birds, rabbits camels, yaks, whatever, will be brought into the church to receive a blessing.   It is based on the teachings of the 13^th century Italian monk, Saint Francis of Assisi who loved and cared for animals.   Furthermore, Assisi in his Canticle of the Creatures wrote of “brother sun, sister moon, sister water, brother fire, and “our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains us and governs us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.”

Many of the religious role models of traditions had an affinity to nature. Buddha became enlightened under a tree and held up a lotus flower. Jesus was born in the warmth of an animal manger and taught with the imagery of seeds, trees, flowers, bushes.  Moses was drawn out of the water of a river and marveled at a bush burning with light.  Muhammed knew the ways of the desert and meditated in the stillness of a cave  Hindu sanyasins wander along sacred rivers and through forests.  All of them recognized their intimate connection to nature. 

There’s something vital to our lives when we’re connected to nature.  Something that quenches a spiritual thirst.  So we need to take the time to appreciate the natural world around us.  But we need to do more than that.  We must also care for it so that it is around for future generations as well.  Unfortunately, we as a species have been doing great harm to the natural world we live in.  We seem to lose and forget – in our daily lives and our societal lives – our connection to the natural world.  We need to remember the words purportedly (though not) of the Native American Chief Seattle:

“This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth.  All things are connected like the blood that unites us all.  Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.  Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”

I wish us beautiful days like today and hope that we will make the time to appreciate them.  And I wish that we will all do what we can to foster and protect the beauty of nature.