Nature Deficit Disorder IV (8/31/2017)

The (Unitarian) Universalist Minister Max Kapp (1904-1979) wrote the following poem that was made into a hymn:

I brought my spirit to the sea;
I stood upon the shore.
I gazed upon infinity,
I heard the waters roar.
And then there came a sense of peace,
Some whisper calmed my soul.
Some ancient ministry of stars
had made my spirit whole. 

I brought my spirit to the trees
That loomed against the sky.
I touched each wand’ring careless breeze
To know if God was nigh.
And then I felt an inner flame
That fiercely burned my tears.
Upright, I rose from bended knee
To meet the asking years.

It struck very deep inside me when we sang this one in church the other day.  Regular readers know I write a lot about Nature Deficit Disorder and about how being on or near the water is my way of meditating, my way to zone out.  Well, here I discovered that there is actually a hymn in our church that addresses this phenomenon. 

On my way to my teaching gig tis week I spent some time at the Virginia State Arboretum.  I walked around the native prairie, or meadow, or wetland.  The sunflowers were blooming.  In the wetter areas there were cardinal flowers and all kind of others.

Wow, to think I gave a talk on it (see my post here) and did not know about this hymn!  It would have been the most perfect way to start my talk.  I started with a piece from "Moby Dick", which is good too, but kind of depressing.  About blowing one's brain out if you stay away from the sea too long.  Oh well, this poem/hymn is much more positive, meditative and healing, the thing that nature is and should be.  And boy do we need it!

This past week we learned that nature has it all.  She presented her ferocious side, as in Hurricane Harvey.  Some questions are now being asked if it was extra bad because we have been screwing around with the climate.  Who knows and who cares?  I think we should just be at awe of nature's inner beauty, its power, its order, how it encompasses us and how we are part of it.  On my walks through nature I am constantly struck by the little things, the small details, it seems that natures never overlooks anything.  Growing bonsai, I love examining the branch structure and surface roots of trees.  In my classes, I tell folks that if you want to learn economics to just look at nature.  There is no waste in nature, eventually nature strives to be a perfect balance of supply and demand; and it does it as efficiently as possible.  Remember, it is survival of the fittest and if you waste anything you are toast.  

At the arboretum, lichens are slowly taking over the bench.  I kind of felt like an intruder sitting on the bench.  It was theirs!

Even some of the blooming grasses can be very beautiful.  This grass had bright yellow pollen sacks which really stood out in the late afternoon sunlight.  Ahchoo!

Definitively cardinal flower and I think it is boneset in the background.  Boneset was named because of it's healing properties when people broke their bones.  It was added to the bandages; it was said to speed up the healing process.  

Those are some of the things I meditate on when walking through nature, through the woods, when I am on the water, or even walk downtown Richmond and look at the old oaks along the streets or walk along the James river.  I let it wash over me, try to block extraneous thoughts out of my mind and just experience what I see.  Yes, I take my camera (or cellphone) with me at times, to take photographs; however, even that connects me with nature and experiencing it.  I tend to take photographs of those experiences.

Not sure what flower this is but I love the color combination the green, the purplish-blue and the red (of the cardinal flower).