January 7, Nature

At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of the morning but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with all the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in. When human souls have become as perfect in voluntary obedience as the inanimate creation is in its lifeless obedience, then they will put on its glory, or rather the greater glory of which Nature is only the first sketch. For you must not think that I am putting forward any heathen fancy of being absorbed into Nature. Nature is moral; we shall outlive her. When all the suns and nebulae have passed away, each one of you will still be alive. Nature is only the image, the symbol; but it is the symbol scripture invites me to use. We are summoned to pass in through Nature, beyond her, into that splendour which she fitfully reflects.
-C.S. Lewis
The Business of Heaven

Some of the most fabulous photography consists of unedited, unaltered, wilderness landscapes left alone by man. Just looking at such works of art captured on film moves something inside of us to feel completely in awe. We think to ourselves, "I need to go there." Even in the modern age of vast technological advances and sprawled out urban cities many a man feels the need to escape to the wilderness now and again, just to sit, just to be surrounded by it's serenity, peace, and beauty. To feel alive again. Writers from all times have gone on and on about "the wilderness," about "nature." There's something special out of doors, something I can't even begin to do justice to by assigning it words. I know exactly what C.S. Lewis is saying here, or rather my soul knows. I can feel the words resonating in my bones. Nature is a reflection of God's splendor; you can feel an inkling of His greatness when surrounded by her.

No doubt,"We are summoned to pass in through Nature, beyond her, into that splendour which she fitfully reflects," and I am giddy about it. Life in the spiritual realm where the reality which nature only reflects must be unfathomable. I will find a good bit of happiness however, right here and now, gazing at trees and clouds and beaches of sand being washed over by enormous waves... His blessings abound.