the nature of god

i don't know about anyone else, but i can honestly say that every time i walk into an REI, i drop all thoughts of heels, dresses, and classy outings, and immediately begin planning my life as a mountain woman, camper, rugged outdoorsy hiking hippie!  haha.  it's really a pretty interesting thing to observe i'm sure...whereas yesterday I was contemplating which high heels to wear with my skinny jeans, today I am trying to decide between the sunblocking quick dry shorts or the board shorts...or, even more difficult a decision, should i buy the keen hiking sandles or the chacos?

like...WHAT?!  when is the last time i wore ANY of this shit?!  probably when i backpacked in europe...when i only had 3 outfits for an entire 2 months...when i was NINETEEN.

so what's the draw?  the first thing that comes to mind for me is "the nature of god".  could this be the answer?

last night, i rode my bike home from a friend's place around midnight and rode right through the financial district in downtown chicago.  if some of you have never seen this area, it is literally the exact shot of gotham city from the dark night (i mean, really...they shot it there) where they are on the train and see a cool shot of all the tall buildings and the gotham tower in the distance...yes, that is the chicago financial district.  in all it's grandeur, gotham city aka chicago, is really one big slab of cement in this part of town.  the streets are wide, curbs hit side walks, and sidewalks hit stone buildings on all sides.  at one point on my bike, i honestly just felt like i was in a cement cube...!  on the other hand, it really is a breathtaking place (if you can appreciate that kind of thing).  buildings lit up, so tall but still, flags of our country and states flapping in the soft breeze...the stark power of that place is something i cannot deny...

as i rode through this part of town in silence, and took in the intensity of the place, i suddenly felt in awe of all the money that is considered here on a daily basis.  honestly, it was bit mind blowing!  as a younger adult, i am sure my closest family and friends would not have been surprised to hear me say that I hated money.  today, i think that hatred has at least softened, and, thankfully, I can at least now have a calm discussion about it.  but, it really still boggles my mind sometimes...how an invented worth drives so much of our daily lives.  my boss often says, "if you don't understand why something works the way it does, the answer is usually money".  so, this place...consumed by the movement of MONEY...this reality all the sudden hit me...

and with that thought, it suddenly became glaringly clear to me how LITTLE connection to earth there was in this cement-filled chicago hot spot.  NO trees, NO grass, barely even a glimpse of SKY...no EARTH.  our obsession with money had fueled this feat of human civilization, had CREATED so much man made grandeur (!), but, in that, had lost all sense of nature.

people often describe the essence of god as nature.  the power, beauty, strength, and flow of nature is undeniably an often immediate reminder of our powerlessness and our individual connection to something much MUCH larger than ourselves.  regardless of if you call this god or just nature, it's undeniably a power larger than us.  even the least religious or spiritual of people have trouble denying the way they feel staring at a breathtaking vista of our world's natural beauty.  :-)  aaaah, just thinking about it now brings me there!

is it surprising, then, that we constantly feel a draw to nature?  that i walk into an outdoor apparel store, and immediately begin daydreaming about leaving my life of hoarding physical possessions behind for the more fulfilling life I could find in nature??  i think not...

and what of the opposite then?  it seems it becomes easier to deny this spiritual draw to god when we no longer feel connected to nature.  among the tall buildings, the wide streets, and the cement cube of the financial district, money seems to be a logical driving force.  in this setting, it's easier to get on board for that ride through life...i mean, right?

when i recently traveled in asia, i felt constantly blown away by the beauty of the nature around me.  and, slowly, i also began to let go of my obsession with personal belongings.  i cared less about my clothes, my appearance, buying things, collecting material possessions...it just all seemed so silly compared to soaking up ALL that was around me.  WOW, there was SO MUCH to soak up!!  and, in the one instance that this actually came into my conscious mind as a realization of change, i thought about how easily I could get along without ever buying anything new...

THE NATURE OF GOD.

it lives within us all...but it seems we have made it easier to let go of in our development of modern culture.  but the power of nature still exists...and i realize it each time i go into that REI, or see the sun rising over lake michigan, or sit on the beach hearing the breeze and the waves lapping on the shore.  suddenly those things that felt hard, painful, or frustrating in my material life can fade away.  and, in that moment, the nature of god around me ignites within me as well...and i feel i am a better version of myself...

:-)  the nature of god.  notice it outside of you, and let it ignite within you :-)