Natural Healing

I was engaged in a conversation the other day with a friend who noted the power of spiritual healing that he experienced when he took himself out into nature. Those of us who happen to be outdoors-people know this to be a fact. That is likely why we're drawn outside in the first place. Granted, in this hyper-competitive world in which we find ourselves, there are all sorts of distractions (I'm thinking about extreme-type "sports") that keep people from the healing power of nature. Why is it that we think we have to fill a beautiful space with our ego-driven perspectives?

What is it about being out of the urban environment and our "usual" lives that brings healing? To a great extent, I find the spaciousness of the natural world, and the rhythm of the citizens of that space to be calming and orderly. I find that there's not the chaos that is so much a part of my life. I also find that the noises from birds, wind, insects, and other denziens is not annoying or damaging, rather it is all part of the grand scheme and each sound has a purpose. My brokenness begins to heal as I experience unity with the larger environment - I find a sense of belonging and meaning.

Purpose, belonging, meaning, hmmm. Maybe that's the ticket. So much of our lives right now seems to lack a sense of purpose, belonging and meaning. We try to compensate with more noise and busy-ness, filling our days with "stuff" rather than making things easier and more simple and starting to deal with the loss of these spiritual matters. How much time have you spent considering what it is that you might be truly gifted and called to do - rather than what you are doing? People can easily get lost in this world, and hurry themselves into the abyss of activity without purpose and meaning. Isolating themselves from others through hyper-competitiveness and egocentrism.

So this week (and this weekend) try something that I've been working on for the last 6 months. The comment from "Good and Beautiful God" by James Bryan Smith to "ruthlessly eliminate hurry" has made a world of difference to me and my worldview. By eliminating my need to hurry, I find that I have more focus and more space in my day. It helps to get back into natural rhythms and find some peace. Take a walk in the woods, paddle a canoe, sit and watch the grass grow - just unwind with the natural world. You'll be glad that you did!

Peace,
Dan