To Study Nature

 

Eine ganz eigne Liebe und Kindlichkeit gehört, nebst dem deutlichsten Verstände und dem ruhigsten Sinn, zum Studium der Natur. Wenn erst eine ganze Nation Leidenschaft für die Natur empfäht, und hier ein neues Band unter den Bürgern geknüpft wird, jeder Ort seine Naturforscher und Laboratorien hat, dann wird man erst Fortschritte auf dieser kolossalischen Bahn machen, die mit ihr im Verhältnis stehn.

 A very special love and childishness belongs to the study of nature, together with the clearest understanding and the calmest sense. Only when a whole nation feels passion for nature, and a new bond is forged among its citizens, and every place has naturalists and laboratories, will progress be made on this colossal exploration that stands in proportion to it.

                                                                                                                 —Novalis

 

To study and attempt to understand nature, and especially the dynamic relationships that exist in nature—is this not the best antidote to the artificiality that threatens to overwhelm our twenty-first century hearts and minds? Thomas Merton wrote about sitting on a rotten tree stump and finding a black widow spider living there. He reflected that, “It is strange to be so very close to something that could kill you, and not be defended by some kind of an invention. As if, wherever there was a problem in life, some machine would have to get there before you to negotiate it . . . As if the whole of reality were in the inventions that stand between us and the world: the inventions which have become our world.” (Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander) The bee teaches us that it needs no human-made tool to extract nectar from the flower; the tree, that it needs no plastic straw to drink from the soil; and the bird, that it doesn’t need GPS to find its way home. I am not saying that certain technologies aren’t useful or even beneficial, but nature reminds us that they are not always necessary. And our technical prowess is not a basis for certainty, nor is technology consistently reliable or useful in every circumstance. The deuterocanonical book of Baruch ends with the Letter of Jeremiah concerning idols. The author ridicules so-called gods that are made by human hands, and at one point writes, “Bats and swallows alight on their bodies and heads—any bird, and cats as well. Know, therefore, that they are not gods; do not fear them.” (Baruch 6:21-22) I think about piles of old computers that I have seen sitting in disposal lots, and how these ingenious devices are now the homes of pigeons and mice, and I think to myself, “They are not gods; do not fear them.”

Poem

I have a poem in Amethyst Review, the second one that has appeared there recently. Although I don’t usually comment on what I have written, I do sometimes like to provide a little background. This poem is inspired by my love of bees, but its symbolism also comes from the words found in the second advent sermon of St. Bernard of Clairvaux concerning Jesus: “Our bee feeds among lilies, and dwells in the flowery country of the angels. This bee flew down to the city of Nazareth, the meaning of which may be interpreted as ‘a blossom;’ He came to the sweet-smelling flower of perpetual virginity; He settled upon it, remained with it.” I was also thinking of St. Ambrose of Milan, who compared the beehive to the church and the bee to the individual Christian, because of the bees’ reputation for diligence, vigilance, modesty, zeal, and dedication to the hive. Interestingly, the beehive is a symbol of both St. Bernard and St. Ambrose, as their eloquence was compared to the sweetness of honey.

Creation

 

Let everything in creation draw you to God. Refresh your mind with some innocent recreation and needful rest, if it were only to saunter through the garden or the fields, listening to the sermon preached by the flowers, the trees, the meadows, the sun, the sky, and the whole universe. You will find that they exhort you to love and praise God; that they excite you to extol the greatness of the Sovereign Architect Who has given them their being.

                                                                                                        --St. Paul of the Cross

 

Nature is truly a great refuge and temple. But nature also makes me inarticulate (which is not necessarily a bad thing, considering my tendency to babble on in both speech and writing). How to capture with words the moment when the crab apple trees become covered in frothy pink and red blossoms, or that hour when the distant mountains turn sharp as etchings and are silhouetted in silver-blue, or the short span of time when the naked desert adopts every shade of luxuriant green after heavy summer rains. What value or truth can anything that I say (or write) have for myself or anyone else, especially when compared with the wholeness and balance that nature displays as a continuous reminder of the “original source of beauty” (Wisdom 13:3) who fashioned it?

Unless your righteousness . . .

I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

                                                                                               --Matthew 5:20

 

How to surpass the scribes and Pharisees in virtue? To begin with, by always being humble, by remembering our own faults and failings and our need for forgiveness, by knowing that anything worthwhile in us is a gift of God, and by seeing all others as better than ourselves in every way.

Non-violence

In the midst of an increasingly violent society and armed conflicts worldwide, I have never been more certain of the importance of promoting non-violence between individuals, groups, and nations. Non-violence begins with seeking justice and equality for all, and not just through symbolic actions but by overcoming the structures that promote racism and prejudice of every kind, as well as the economic inequality that leaves most of humanity, including our fellow citizens, (not to mention our beautiful earth home), struggling every day just to survive. This can--and must--be done with the tools of non-violence, which requires a daily commitment from every one who cares, and a willingness to challenge even those structures that may benefit us personally but contribute to the oppression of others. Non-violent change can be enduring change and can defeat even the most powerful weapons, so long as each of us is willing to do their part.

Poetry

Unsere Sprache ist entweder mechanisch, atomistisch, oder dynamisch. Die echt poetische Sprache soll aber organisch, lebendig sein. Wie oft fühlt man die Armut an Worten, um mehre Ideen mit Einem Schlage zu treffen.                                                                 

Our language is either mechanical, atomistic, or dynamic. But truly poetic language should be organic, alive. How often does one feel the poverty of a words’ ability to express several ideas at once.

                                                                                              --Novalis, Blütenstaub

 

Here lies the difference between nature and everyday language. Nature is all simultaneity. But everyday language uses lists, plots, beginnings and endings. Poetry must express itself in the manner of nature, implying the interconnectedness of all things, all stories, the visible and the invisible. Things are often metaphors for other things, ideas often metaphors for other ideas, the visible for the invisible, but the connection may not be obvious until it is revealed by poetic language, which (as in the Song of Songs, for example) can even express the transcendent.

Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe, 2022

 

Sí, ustedes saldrán gozosamente

y serán conducidos en paz;

al paso de ustedes, las montañas y las colinas prorrumpirán en gritos de alegría,

y aplaudirán todos los árboles del campo.

En lugar de zarzas brotarán cipreses,

y mirtos en lugar de ortigas:

esto dará al Señor un gran renombre,

será una señal eterna, que no se borrará.

                              -- Isaías 55:12-13

  

Yes, in joy you shall go forth,

in peace you shall be brought home;

mountains and hills shall break out in song before you,

all trees of the field shall clap their hands.

In place of the thornbush, the cypress shall grow,

instead of nettles, the myrtle.

This shall be to the Lord’s renown,

as an everlasting sign that shall not fail.  

                            --Isaiah 55:12-13