When Nature Becomes the Teacher

One of the things that brings me great joy is waking up early in the morning, sitting outside, and taking in the beauty and mystery of God.

It has been a long winter, and I have not been able to sit on my deck. But this beautiful morning was the first time in a while that I could step outside and enjoy my coffee on the deck again.

As I sat there, I heard the glorious music of birds chirping. I witnessed the miracle of the sun rising from its slumber. I marveled at the towering trees. Even without their full bloom, they still held such strength and power. They were not shy in their nakedness, not afraid to be seen uncovered without what we humans might call perfection—without beautiful clothes or makeup.

Above me, the sky was painted with white clouds and blue hues. The clouds looked like fluffy cotton shaped into angels and all kinds of artistic forms.

The sounds of cars moving swiftly through the neighborhood reminded me of my childhood—people busying themselves for a new Sunday morning. Church bells ringing in the day of worship. Dogs barking. Squirrels running up and down the trees.

They were so carefree.

They have no worries about bills.

They have no worries about what they will eat.

They have no worries about who likes them or who doesn’t.

They have no worries about what the news is saying.

As I focused on the birds and squirrels in my yard, I noticed something interesting. They did not fight over space. The squirrels did not spend their time engrossed in what the birds were doing, and the birds did not spend their time gossiping about what the squirrels were doing.

It was as if they each knew and understood their role on the earth and were only concerned with carrying it out.

As I observed this living picture—the trees, the grass, the sky, the clouds, the birds, the squirrels, the dog, the cars, the wind—my senses became fully focused on the artistry before me.

There was no hatred.

There was no malice.

There were no disagreements.

There was no strife.

There was only purpose.

Watching this beauty operate exactly as God created it to function brought my thoughts back to humans. It became so clear to me that humans are the only creatures who seem to struggle with operating in the purpose for which we were created.

We are the only ones who seem to become distracted and overloaded with so many other things so easily.

I understand that life can be a struggle. It is easy to become distracted, lost, or even unaware of our purpose. But as I sat there reflecting, I began to wonder:

What would happen if we became more like God's other creatures?

What if we respected and understood one another’s roles and spent so much time focused on fulfilling our purpose that we had no time for distractions?

If humans operated like other creatures, there would be no need for hate, because we were created for love—and love would be our natural response to everyone.

If humans operated like other creatures, there would be no envy or worry, because we would be grateful for each new day, each new breath, each sunrise, each birth, each new moon.

We would be so enamored by the mastery of God in every moment that our lives would be spent reverencing and praising His wonderful acts of love toward us.

If humans responded like other creatures, each day would be spent enjoying the gifts that God has graciously given us.

We would wake with a new spirit every morning.

We would dance in the moonlight.

We would inhale the aroma of every new scent.

We would be awestruck by the hundreds of flowers and want to know the beauty of each one.

We would revel in the changing seasons.

We would bask in the glow of quietness.

We would feel each new wind against our cheek.

We would stare into the eyes of our loved ones as if it were the last time—every time.

We would belly laugh in joyful moments.

We would adore the innocence of children and carefully align ourselves with nurturing their growth and development, seeing the world through their eyes.

There would be no need for forgiveness, because we would love everyone.

There would be no wars.

No racism.

No abuse.

No lack.

No starvation.

No killing.

There would only be love for every other human and for everything that God created, because God said that everything, He created was good.

Yet it was our human form that decided God was wrong.

It was our humanness that decided we needed to redesign God's plan.

And not only did we change God's plan, but some of us use God's own words to justify our diversion from His original intent.

We use God's word to make it okay to hate others. To justify unforgiveness. To create division among His children. To gossip, lie, use vile language, and harm others with our words.

Then we stand before God apologizing and blaming our humanness for our actions—as if God is unaware of the original intent and purpose, He created for us.

Today, I thank God for reminding me.

And now that I have been reminded, I will remind myself to wake each day with a list of things for which I am grateful.

There are so many that I could spend the rest of my days reciting them.

And when I become distracted and appear to forget, I will look to God's other creatures to remind me. Because they seem to be the only ones that truly understand the assignment.