Connecting to the Great Mystery though nature

• "How do you know," a Bedouin asked, "that there is a God?" "In the same way," his friend replied. "that I know, on looking at the sand, when a man or beast has crossed the desert-- by his footprints in the world around me." Henry Parry Liddon
• The closer we are to Nature, the closer we are to God. Johann Goethe
• I believe that a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars, and the Pismire ant is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren. Walt Whitman
• Twilight has always seemed like God's indrawn breath, a pause in the progression of time. Emilie Richards
• The first act of awe, when man was struck with the beauty or wonder of Nature, was the first spiritual experience. Henryk Skolimowski
• I, the fiery life of divine essence, am aflame beyond the beauty of the meadows, I gleam in the waters, and I burn in the sun, moon, and stars....I awaken everything to life. Ildergard of Bingen
• The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. Anne Frank
• To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, An eternity in an hour. William Blake
• What else is nature but God? Seneca the Younger
• Every natural object is a conductor of divinity. John Muir
• So nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred; trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals. Mikhail Gorbachev
• Nature is full of genius, full of divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand. Henry David Thoreau
• The deeper we look into nature, the more we recognize that it is full of life, and the more profoundly we know that all life is a secret and that we are united with all life that is in nature. Man can no longer live his life for himself alone. We realize that all life is valuable and that we are united to all this life. From this knowledge comes our spiritual relationship with the universe. Albert Schweitzer
• Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. Albert Einstein
• We are learning finally that the forests and mountains and desert canyons are holier than our churches. Edward Abbey
• "How do you know," a Bedouin asked, "that there is a God?" "In the same way," his friend replied. "that I know, on looking at the sand, when a man or beast has crossed the desert - by his footprints in the world around me." Henry Parry Liddon
• In the mountain, stillness surges up to explore its own height; In the lake, movement stands still to contemplate its own depth. Sir Rabindranath Tagore
• We are surrounded by a rich and fertile mystery. Henry David Thoreau
• Untroubling and untroubled where I lie, the grass below, above, the vaulted sky. Clare John
• If you watched a rock your entire life it would never look different. But if you were God and could observe the rock over fifteen billion years as though only a second had passed, the rock would be frantic with activity. It would be shrinking and growing and trading matter with its environment. Its molecules would travel the universe and become a partner to amazing things that we could never imagine. Scott Adams, God's Debris
• At the deepest level of ecological awareness you are talking about spiritual awareness. Spiritual awareness is an understanding of being imbedded in a larger whole, a cosmic whole, of belonging to the universe. Fritjof Capra
• The forest is not merely an expression or representation of sacredness, nor a place to invoke the sacred; the forest is sacredness itself. Nature is not merely created by God, nature is God. Whoever moves within the forest can partake directly of sacredness, experience sacredness with his entire body, breath sacredness and contain it within himself, drink the sacred water as a living communion, bury his feet in sacredness, open his eyes and witness the burning beauty of sacredness. Richard Nelson
• I believe in God, only I spell it Nature. Frank Lloyd Wright
• Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God. Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• Nature is too thin a screen; the glory of the omnipresent God bursts through everywhere. Ralph Waldo Emerson
• The arch of sky and mightiness of storms, Have moved the spirit within me, Till I am carried away, Trembling with joy. Uvavnuk, Inuit shaman
• Even in a single leaf of a tree, or a tender blade of grass, the awe- inspiring Deity manifests Itself. Shinto. Urabe-no- Kanekuni
• Conceive of God in terms of universal Nature--a nature God in whom we really live and move and have our being, with who our relation is as intimate and constant as that of the babe in its mother’s womb, or the apple upon the bough. This is the God that science and reason reveal to us--the God we touch with our hands, see with our eyes, hear with our ears, and from whom there is no escape, who is, indeed, from everlasting to everlasting. John Burroughs

The effects of time in nature

• To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter ... to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring—these are some of the rewards of the simple life. John Burroughs
• In the woods, we return to reason and faith. Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. John Muir
• Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. Frank Lloyd Wright
• There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore. Lord Byron
• Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you... while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. John Muir
• Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth will find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. Rachel Carson
• Standing alone on a mountain top, it is easy to realize that whatever special nests we make-- leaves and moss like the marmots and birds, or tents of piled stone-- we all dwell in a house of one room..." John Muir

Celebrating nature

• Nature shows us only surfaces, but she is a million fathoms deep. Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating, there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. John Ruskin
• The most precious things of life are near at hand, without money and without price. Each of you has the whole wealth of the universe at your very door. John Burroughs
• What is life? it is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. Crowfoot Blackfoot (Native American)
• To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. Helen Keller
• Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower, The periwinkle trail'd its wreaths; And 'tis my faith that every flower Enjoys the air it breathes. William Wordsworth
• While with an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things. William Wordsworth
• In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. Aristotle
• Green is the prime colour of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises. Pedro Calderon De La Barca
• All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child. Marie Curie
• The birds and animals, trees and grasses, rocks, water and wind are our allies. They waken our senses, rouse our passions, renew our spirits and fill us with vision, courage, and joy... David Gaines
• The day I see a leaf is a marvel of a day. Kenneth Patton
• God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm. William Cowper

Deep thoughts

• If you will think of ourselves as coming out of the earth, rather than having been thrown in here from somewhere else, you see that we are the earth, we are the consciousness of the earth. These are the eyes of the Earth. And this is the voice of the earth. Joseph Campbell
• Nature is a unity in diversity...a harmony, blending together all created things...one great whole animated by the breath of life. Alexander von Humboldt
• Let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life. John Muir