Mother Nature
I am often queried as to why I spend so many hours of so many days out meandering around in nature-like settings. To adequately explain this is Herculean, even for one who writes as much as I. My most treasured nature setting is a Redwood forest. Closer to home it is the Arboretum, the forest preserves, and Cantigny. They become my home away from home. Or maybe my Condo is my home away from nature. Either way nature is important to my mental state, to my level of contentment, to my sense of meaning about life in general.
Until the rise of monotheism nature was the primary religious experience. Nature is God's creation and God's gift to all forms of life. We know God exists because of this gift. If we receive a gift from an anonymous source we may not know personally the gift giver, but we know the gift giver exists. And so we know God exists. In earlier times this 'gift' (nature) from God was the target of our religious fervor, our rituals, our sense of sanctity. Nature was the wonderment of life. Over time humans, one group after the next, began to invent the essence of God Himself. We (most) decided man was made after the image of God; we decided humans were created specially outside the process of evolution; we decided God thought like us; we decided God, if we behaved a certain way---or at least belonged to the right inherited religion---that God would personally aid us in our lives IF we prayed to him and performed the right religious rituals; we decided God would reward certain inherited religious dogma with life after death; we decided that whenever we waged war on others God was on our side, with every nation creating it's own 'manifest destiny'; we decided that man had dominion over all other forms of life, etc. All of these created perceptions were convenient to egocentric needs, and none of these perceptions were based on HUMAN REASON---the ability of humans to reason another gift from God's created evolutionary process.
With all these human inventions about God, Nature became less and less the focal point of religious fervor or sacredness. Nature instead became a gift from our Maker to do with whatever we liked. Nature was for our use, it's resources were unlimited, and all other species important only so far as they had a direct use to humans. There may have been millions of other species, all evolved over millions of years of evolution, but Humans were God's favorite. In truth, all of these 'inventions' about God and nature were nothing more than egocentric creations by humans to justify their own personal greed, power, and pleasures of the moment.
To a large extent humans have succeeded in separating human interests and well being from nature. Nature, to most people has become nothing more than an occasional trip amusement. Shuffling along in human herds, from point to point, at a pace determined by jammed packed schedules, a visit to nature is no different than a visit to the Auto Show or the Icecapades, or a movie. And, as shows, sport events, and movies became more fine tuned to human emotional states, nature became passe, kind of boring, and most certainly taken for granted. Muir Woods becomes a quick bus ride and a quick hour walk to see some big trees. After five minutes you get the idea and now what's next? Nature, except for a dedicated minority, has become mostly irrelevant and unimportant to most people's lives. I will alter Carl Jung in the following: "Man feels himself isolated in the cosmos. He is no longer involved in nature and has lost his emotional attachment to nature, which hitherto had symbolic meaning for him. Nature no longer 'speaks' to him nor can he feel any meaningful relationship to his evolutionary counterparts." Most humans no longer feel a part of nature but Masters of nature. Whatever abuse and misuse of Nature is convenient for human needs at the time is inevitably justified by those who genuinely feel human needs always come first.
Some people go to church, some dedicate their lives to the accumulation of more and more "Things" or "Power" or "Titles", and many combine all of this, never seeing any conflict between them. One COULD NOT BE a Christian today without ignoring the behavior and mentality of those who claim they are Christians. If Christ returned today, He would have the same task as His first time amongst us---to go after the corruptness, in deed and dogma, of those claiming the power in often ostentatious glittering cathedrals. Christianity has been so bastardized as to be but a faint recollection of it's original entity. More and more people realize that whatever organized religious sects may or may not be, they offer little to those trying to find real meaning to their lives. I never feel more out of touch with reality than when in a church service. Everything is so artificial, so scripted, so disingenuous, so robotic, so mindless, so useless. Granted it makes a lot of people feel better, but I no longer care since they then proceed to do whatever they feel like doing with the rest of their lives---OTHERS and NATURE be damned. After all they have gone through all the inherited religious rituals and, in their mind, are entitled then for a place in Heaven. Maybe, maybe not. I bet not.
When Nature, God's gift to all living species, becomes the center of your search for meaning and the object of your reverence, only then do you genuinely identify in an emotional way with OTHERS and all aspects of NATURE, including all other species. Before this evolved sense of monotheism took hold, evolving in most parts of the planet at the same time with prophets creating separate monotheistic religious sects, all animals and objects of nature were treated with reverence. Wanton killing or mistreatment of animals was unheard of, considered blasphemy of some sort. Killing animals for sport was nonexistent, jamming them into stalls and force feeding them was unheard of (there were fields and shepherds, or hunting for food), and to the best of their understanding at the time, all objects in nature were protected in a sanctimonious fashion, less God or the Gods be displeased. Today the vast majority of humans no longer show any real concern for any aspect of nature except what unlimited use can be made of the treasures still remaining.
Of course there still are a small percentage of humans who are as dedicated as ever to viewing nature as sacred and accept human responsibility to protect nature as any gift from the Creator of the Universe should be protected. To appreciate Nature is to accept our own selves as merely part of a community of species, dependent on each other for the laws of nature to function properly. To appreciate Nature is to understand the planet's resources are not unlimited. To appreciate Nature is to unequivocally accept responsible human reproduction as absolutely essential for the entire community of species on the planet to maintain an equilibrium amongst the diverse parts and species which make up Nature. To appreciate Nature is to understand that humans cannot wantonly destroy nature by overrunning the earth like locusts, devouring everything in sight. To continue to do this is to implode a civilized lifestyle generated by human ingenuity. To appreciate Nature is to understand Nature bats last. ALWAYS. Life on this planet has gone through 6 mass extinctions of species. Today is the 7th and by far the BIGGEST EVER. On the average, in past ages, 3 or 4 species would become extinct in a decade. Now there are 80/day, some 30,000/YR---and almost all of it due to human activities. To commune with nature and feel oneself a part of the evolutionary community is to see the forest for the sake of the trees, to see priorities of life in a different perspective, to gain a genuine appreciation of diversity, to develop an empathy with the less fortunate and those species with simpler capabilities. To appreciate diversity is to acquire the kind of empathy with other species that we already have developed with our pets. This developed empathy, both with other humans, other species, and the inanimate resources of nature generates the bleak, but accurate understanding that humans cannot keep overpopulating this planet without destroying our own welfare, the welfare of other species, and the natural resources on our planet. To appreciate Nature is to fear it may already be too late. The rapidly approaching climate changes indicated by the current weather extremes, the species depletion, the shrinking supply of natural resources, the global rise of terrorism by those caught in the vicious consequences of human overpopulation, the genocidal wars as differing groups vie for access to increasingly scarce land, water, food, homes----all of these bode impending global chaos. It is only out in nature one can even begin to understand the real tragedy taking place, to sense the brilliance of Nature's complexity and diversity. At first one feels like one is witnessing Nature's last stand, but logic dictates Nature will win this battle against any species which abuses Nature, just like Nature has won all such past battles; that IT IS HUMAN LIFE, as us affluent now know it, which is teetering on the edge of disaster. The least protected humans, the least fortunate of humans on our planet are already beginning to pay a horrible price for human arrogance, greed, and self serving lust for power and amassment of more and more wealth in the hands of a smaller and smaller percentage of human population. We are no longer much concerned with being our brother's keeper or the Golden Rule let alone any protector of other species or natural resources on our planet. We instead live in an age of information overload, of harried living, of short term goals, of self serving family circled wagons hoarding whatever THINGS and advantages that can be muscled through by special interest or power holding groups, all fueled by inane patriotism/sectarian religious fervor.
But putting aside all the negative futuristic impact of current social/political/religious mores, spending time in nature, for me, invariably improves my mood, my energy, and definitely my level of contentedness in general. Some people feel better after some form of meditation, or some with running, or some with a workout etc. I always am in a better mood and a more relaxed mood after my nature walks and even my meanderings around the city lake front for a day. For me, and this sounds silly maybe, but feeling part of nature, which is to feel part of the evolutionary process, is the most meaningful part of living. Maybe it is a process of going back to one's roots in some vague indescribable way. After all, life is a continuum and has been since the first one celled organisms. Life itself is, so far, everlasting. Eggs and sperms are alive and every living thing which is formed comes from already living cells. The DNA which makes up our genes has been around since the earliest times, billions of years ago. The essence of who any of us really are has little to do with the known function of cells which generate our essence. "I", in any meaningful sense of the word "I", did not exist until quite some time after birth. And the essence of any "I" changes throughout life. "I" am not the same person as when "I" was younger. And CERTAINLY some person in a vegetative state or with dementia is not the same "I" they were prior to these conditions.
The Golden Rule has an attached obligatory corollary in order for it to be ethical in an evolutionary sense. That is, something is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the entire biotic community. Something is wrong when it fails to do this. To appreciate nature one has to sense the intimate connection between people, animals, plants, landscapes, and inanimate objects in nature. People, to be content at work, need to feel they are a part of the entire work community. Feeling isolated in a work environment is to be an unhappy employee. Feeling isolated in earth's evolutionary process is to be an unhappy camper in the quest for the meaning of life. Nature, if nothing else, is teeming with life and offers opportunities for enjoyment and its innate beauty moves human souls. Nature is the fundamental reference point for who we are and where we fit into the evolutionary process. The real enchantment of nature is the opportunity for communion with nature to connect ourselves to our place in the world and to see such a place's connection to a larger meaningful cosmos with a long and rich history. We are all Earth's children and Nature is our common Mother. A developed sense of oneness with nature is not attained via the usual rational way of understanding, it is more like when a pet may not understand what you are saying, but they sense the essence of your drift. And so too can we understand, not the language of nature, but the essence of the evolutionary process. The whole of earth is like a Superorganism, a gigantic whole entity, and all the comprising parts, both living and non living, are of little significance IN THEMSELVES. It would be like arguing which of our different kind of white blood cells are the best or most important. By themselves individual types of white blood cells are nothing, and are only something when they function in harmony with other diverse body cells. And thus we too, as individual humans, are really nothing APART FROM OUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS. Yet we spend much of our life trying to pretend otherwise. We even invent concepts of a God which enable us to suffer the illusion of our own importance, our own special connection to the Universe's Creator.
When out in nature one understands he/she is not here alone nor for ourselves alone. We are but an integral part, albeit a miniscule one, of the evolutionary process. It is the ultimate team concept, no 'preferred' creations, no Creator delving out special perks for special tribes based on inherited dogmas. We may seek dominion, both personally for ourselves and collectively---over other species and natural resources, but this is a foolish delusion. In the end, death levels all. No one can gain genuine contentment chasing illusions. You gain contentment through reason, through acceptance of Nature's nature, through reasoned out ethics (the Golden Rule), and a commitment that right makes might, and in that faith, to do our duty as best we understand our duty." It is in this context, when people interact, each with their own unique essence, that genuine cooperation, respect, and contentment can be achieved despite all the irrational conflicts swirling all around.
All living things come from the same DNA building blocks much like the old erector sets created differing structures from the same building blocks. Our living energy is never totally separate from the energy present inside all evolutionary living beings. WE ARE ALL 'FAMILY' and are best contented when we feel part of this larger family, just as we can feel part of a biological family---only achieving such a connection with the larger evolutionary family can provide a much greater sensual connection, simply because it brings us closer to the reality of the evolutionary process, of which we are a part. In earlier times every tree, every spring, every stream, every hill had it's own reverence, it own special sanctity. When humans became more arrogant about their own sense of importance, in the total scheme of things, we began more and more to reject such 'demonic heresy', and our invented religious sects made it possible to exploit nature with a mode of indifference to interdependency of the evolutionary parts. Man now became, in the eyes of most men, dominant and special favorites of the Creator---at least special for those in the right inherited religious sect. Now man's singular goal was to develop a special relationship with a deity or a son of a deity, or a human designated intermediary to a deity and in so doing gain entrance to a heaven after death. This naturally made it easier to abuse the earth, to discount the importance of other species, because the focus became personal salvation, not here on earth, but at another time and place. Beliefs, by definition are not provable by logic or facts or they wouldn't be beliefs. BUT, beliefs can be wrong and differing beliefs have different levels of supporting evidence. To me, any objective analysis of what is known about the evolutionary process does not support the religious beliefs referred to above. It may be comforting and self serving to simply use religion to believe you are going to a heaven, yet this kind of mindless belief brings with it a lot of painful mental suffering when all the injustices in life pile up on the good, as well as the bad, characters in life----while the strongest religious beliefs in the world provide no relief from the spinning wheel of evolutionary fate, as determined by the laws of evolution. There is no evidence of apparent Divine interference with His own created laws of evolution. Terrell Owens may genuinely believe God personally gave him certain blessings and talents, but that hardly makes it so.
We now live in what seems to be the apex of growth, power, and profit for humans. Nowhere in God's created evolutionary process is there any evidence that any species can survive such self serving tendencies. In past earlier times these tendencies were not thought out ideologies---with humans it is. But this is a minor point. Nature doesn't consider the logic behind the behavior, only the behavior. The laws of evolution deal with restoring homeostatic balance between the differing species and natural inanimate objects. No collective human mental self serving attitudes can override God's created evolutionary laws. When considering the whole forest instead of individual trees, such attitudes are preposterous. We just are no where's near as smart as we, or our leaders, may think we are. The Pope can pray for peace on earth every single Christmas Eve but will have as much impact on the reality of Peace as if he prayed for war every single Christmas Eve. We need to quit all this bullshit.
When one becomes attuned to Nature one realizes land and creatures are more important than for humans to amass huge amounts of wealth, power, and proclaim the right to practice irresponsible reproduction. Being attuned to nature as a means for contentment is not a way of life per se. No one would mistake my involvement in nature with Daniel Boone or rugged mountaineers or those who make a living off the land. There is a ruggedness there of which I am not particularly capable. Nature is more something I go to in order to understand my place in the whole evolutionary process, to gain some sort of meaning to life, to develop respect for diversity amongst differing species and amongst differing human beings. Only in nature have I ever come close to seeing the big picture, to seeing the forest for the sake of the trees, to capture a bit of the history of life--- which gives me depth of connection to this whole process of life which has been going on so long. The DNA molecules within me have been around a very long time. I, of course have not, and will not be much longer. Do these ancient molecules have any meaningful way to contribute to my essence as a person? Maybe they do and maybe they don't, but when in nature I just feel supersensitive in my thoughts and feelings. That I invariably come away from nature with a better mood and more contentment comes from something which nature adds to my essence. Of course I am not brilliant enough to explain exactly how this transformation occurs, I can only summarize the results. We all know that listening to certain songs from the past, certain movie scenes, certain situations in life can actually recreate emotions of a past time. You can then, in a more limited way, re-experience an excitement, a missed love, a relished accomplishment, all in absentia. There are molecules within your body with the capability of initiating such emotional connections to a past. Perhaps, in some sort of faint similar way nature is able to activate connections from a distant past, a past in which the DNA molecules from more ancient times activate within us a connection to that distant past----not with vivid scenes but in a sublime emotional way. There are people who sometimes seriously claim, in certain situations, that they have been in a certain place before. Perhaps some of their DNA was. It is always necessary to remember that life is a continuum, all individuals of every species originated from already existing living cells. It is humans who tend to insist life begins at conception and ends at some technical definition of death. In reality the "I" (your real essence) begins sometime after birth and changes throughout life. There is no beginning or ending of life, just the beginning and ending of the 'essence' of a particular advanced form of life. I suppose maybe the original amoeba, absent any mutations over time, could still exist after a trillion trillion cell divisions. What is more certain is that the essence of "I" and the essence of "YOU" will not exist more than a miniscule measurable period of time. I no longer find that threatening. None of us are built for the long run, nor need any longer time to play our role in the evolutionary process. We are what we are, we do what we do, TIME STAYS, WE GO. Could there be an afterlife? This sort of answer is far beyond human reasoning power. Blind faith can generate a strong belief in an afterlife, and if this helps anyone's emotional state, so be it. Of course strong belief in anything does not make it so. Or not so.
The Redwood Forests are special to me because some of them have been alive since the time of Christ. To be around anything alive that long is sobering and impressive. There is no human ever who can remotely stay alive so long. Redwood longevity, their size, their solitary peacefulness speaks volumes. Humans have a tendency to think our own creations, admirable as they might be and are, can justify whole scale destruction of other species and natural resources. Humans have a tendency to think human devised religious dogmas are superior to ethics derived from humans' greatest gift from God's created process of evolution----the ability to reason. There is nothing wrong with the Golden Rule, a reasoned out universal ethics innate to all humans not suffering from mental disease or mental limitations. Perhaps the trouble is that the Golden Rule is too hard to practice, and so we invent religious dogmas which enable millions to do as they please to a greater or lesser degree and still get rewarded with an afterlife in some sort of wonderful heaven. Nature doesn't communicate much at all about the future to us, and we are left with the past and the present. This is a blessing. How could we ever be contented if the future was known? Now is the only time you own, the cards in your own hand the only ones to be played, the ethics of others your only social protection, and the challenge is to develop the serenity to "accept the things we cannot change; the courage to change those things we can change; and the wisdom to know the difference" as we keep the faith that "right makes might, and in that faith, we to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it." It is Mother Nature, at least in my case, from which that understanding cometh, generating contentment in the process.
