During the middle of summer, with many of us out on the water, in the woods, and otherwise enjoying nature, we may not give much thought to being deficient in nature "vitamins." The following is a quote from a men's devotional that a reader sent in after seeing last weeks Creation-Care 365 article. Hope you are enjoying the awe of nature and taking time for those free sunsets (if not sunrises)!
Day 292
Nature Deficit Disorder
My spiritual father, St. Francis, was one of the few later Christian saints who made a consistent and clear connection with nature. Yet much of Christian history has had to do with books, translations, and universities; internecine fights among academics and seminaries; and people arguing about words, salvation theories, and worship styles.
We are suffering from a major case of Christian NDD – Nature Deficit Disorder. At this point, I sincerely believe that the earth is the only thing shared enough, wise enough, suffering enough, and God-created enough to truly change most men [and women]. Get out, stay quiet, be alone, and listen long and happily. “Nature is the primary and most perfect revelation of the divine,” said St. Thomas Aquinas. It was the Bible before the Bible, and we stopped reading it.
How do I spend time with nature? How can I make that time more conducive to spiritual wonder?*
*Richard Rohr, On the Threshold of Transformation, (Chicago, Loyola Press, 2010), p 301
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