From My Nature Journal: Making Sense of Things

The Bible speaks of things that are a ‘delight to the eye,’ a phrase that’s a good description of my experience of natural beauty. Yes, delight is in the mind’s eye and not the actual one. And yes, the first thing mentioned in the Bible utilizing that curious phrase was the description of the infamous forbidden fruit, not a great beginning for the idiom. But thankfully it’s uphill from there.

Nevertheless, the phrase effectively conveys the ethos of beauty, the privilege of seeing such splendor that it can almost ache. It is interesting to me that beauty can evoke such a sensation, not quite pain, but close, such loveliness that ‘it hurts.’ One lets out the same kind of “Oh…” as when they’ve just bitten their tongue! Only it doesn’t hurt like that, it’s delight… great word.

But sight is not the only sense that evokes delight in nature. Think of the delight of the other senses...

What about the smell of rain? Or the fragrance of lilacs or lily of the valley in May? Of desert sage? Of camp coffee? Or of hot sap in a northwoods pine?

What about the touch of warm sand on just bared feet? Or the feel brushing your finger across a thistle bloom, perhaps a sensation made all the more wonderful by the thorny visual effect of the rest of the plant? What of a small child’s grasp of an adult thumb? Or of a presenting breeze on a sultry day?

What about the sound of a small brook while picnicking? Or the whisper of wind through conifer boughs? The evensong of a thrush on an early summer night? Or the sound of distant but approaching thunder?

What about the taste of a handful of plump, wild raspberries? Or a firm apple on a break from an uphill hike? What of the almost eye-popping sweetness of honey, or maple syrup, or beloved brother Greg’s blackberry jam? Or even of a simple hotdog cooked over a campfire?

Yes, natural delights are not to the eye only. I have often thought, with my love of nature, what a sadness it would be to lose my sight. But the more I think of it, the more I realize there would still be much to enjoy.

Sight, smell, touch. sound and taste?

…Jesus said, “Blessed are the eyes that see the things you see…” (Luke 10:23)

…We are a fragrance of Christ… (2 Corinthians 2:15)

Jesus said to Thomas, “Touch me… and believe.”  (John 20:27)

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze… (Genesis 3:8)

Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. (Psalm 34:8)

~~ RGM, from an earlier entry in my nature journal,

revised for my blog October 2 2015

Blowin' in the Wind: Inattentional Blindness...

Blowin’ in the Wind is a regular feature on my blog consisting of an assortment of nature writings – hymns, songs, excerpts, prayers, Bible readings, poems or other things – pieces I may not have written but that inspire me. I trust they will do the same for you.

Last week I put up that photo of the nearly invisible whitetail fawn at rest in the grass we came across while leading a nature hike, and the story surrounding its discovery. In my essay, I also briefly alluded to the spiritual issue of failing to see the things that God desires us to see, or hear the things God desires us to hear.

I always appreciate it when either friends or people unknown to me comment, lets me know that somebody is reading these things and enjoying them! Sometimes comments come direct to the blogsite, more often to my Facebook reminder post, and most often via a personal email or face-to-face encounter. Quite quickly after posting last week, I heard via email from a good friend, Monty, a pastor here in Colorado, who happened to be preaching the next day on the same subject. I thought it might creatively expand last week’s spiritual subject. Here is what he said (permission was granted!):

Enjoyed your Naturally... just now.  Reminded me of the many times someone forwards something like that drawing that either looks like an old hag or a beautiful woman, depending on how you look at it... I’m speaking Sunday on the Parable of the Sower and focusing on Jesus' very specific urgings to "Listen!" Here is my intro, after which I segue into ‘inattentional’ deafness:

"Last week I read a blurb about a research group that was studying something they called “inattentional blindness.” They say inattentional blindness occurs when “people fail to become aware of objects unrelated to their current task.” In other words, when we are busy doing one thing we will likely not see or notice what is going

on around us.                                                                                             

"The researchers clipped money on a tree branch overhanging a path about head height and then observed the reaction of the passersby. Here is what happened. 396 people were observed walking down the path. Most failed to see the money, but 94% of those who missed it were distracted by their cell phones... Some of these did not even see the branch until it whopped them in the face.

"The researchers concluded that “becoming aware of an object generally requires focused attention.” I think that means you need to be looking for something in order to see it… When people look at a tree they expect to see leaves so they see leaves… not money. So when they are not intentional, or are ‘inattentional,’ they cannot see the money for the leaves. If they had been told there was money hanging on a tree branch when they began their walk down the path, they would have been looking for it. But because they were not looking for money they did not see it. Inattentional blindness…

"We generally see what we are focused on seeing or expecting to see, but inattentional blindness is exacerbated when we our attention is focused on something totally unrelated to what we are doing.

"Earlier this week I looked across Agate Lake, the same lake I looked across last year. The same stand of dead trees I saw last year stood in a gap between the greenery along the opposite shoreline. But this time, in the morning sunlight I could see what looked to be an old white house with four windows… in the five years we have gathered there in that same spot no one had noticed the house hidden behind the stand of dead trees. Suddenly we could all see it because now we were looking for it. Otherwise we had been inattentionally blind to it.

"I wonder if there is also such a thing as inattentional deafness…"

Thanks, Monty. Couldn’t agree more. Even stumble along in that blindness myself sometimes, so I wish I could have been there to hear the rest of the sermon!

~~RGM, July 16 2014