A Walk in the Woods

Photo: Keith Wittler


I was asked recently to present a class at an annual gathering of the Black Swamp Area Council, a member of the Boy Scouts of America, University of Scouting event. The list of classes was predetermined, and having completed the Masters program, I was expected to continue on towards the Doctorate degree by presenting one of them. I chose “The Nature of Cubs: What you can learn on a nature hike.” Having had a chance to do some reading and contemplating, I would like to share some of my thoughts as I prepare for this task.

Funny, how things tend to lend themselves to whatever is going on in life. And this is no exception as I have been reading selected essays from a scholar, poet and writer by the name of Wendell Berry. He resides in Kentucky where he has been a farmer as well as a naturalist. What I have learned from him, or been so eloquently reminded, is that life is about appreciating the cyclic nature of the earth. Just as there are seasons that replenish the soil with water and nutrients for plant life to grow, we too are supplied with all our bodily needs by this process of nature. So too, we are commissioned with the care of the earth as we are creations of God who placed us here.

Our very nature is undeniably linked to the cycles of life and death as it also pertains to creation. God’s intelligent design places us in harmony with the seasons so that we can derive our every need and desire from within its boundaries. Like an island in the stream of the universe, our survival depends on the natural processes that supply the air we breathe, the food we eat by fulfilling the purpose for which we were created. And like this creation, we are the precious possessions of a god who loves us. It is his desire that we may multiply and prosper.

So, as I imagine a walk through the forest, I recognize not only my desire to enjoy nature, but also my responsibility to learn about it and preserve it for future generations. The idea is that in order to be a part of nature, we must know it by the names of the birds, the trees and plants that grow in it and by the cycles that sustain it. What we take from the earth must be put back just as nature does to sustain itself. Hopefully, in the last words of Scouting’s founder, Baden Powell, is, “That we leave this earth better than the way we found it.” But we are held to a higher call still, by the spiritual nature of our creator; to recognize his gifts and to praise him for all his wonder through the good works of our earthly selves. Our happiness and purpose fulfilled, we can live harmoniously within the realms of his creation. It is in serving that we are served, and it is in dying that we are born again. Is it any wonder that God taught us this lesson by the very earth he gave us to live on? And it is high time we start living up to our obligations. Amen.