Recognizing God's Spirit in Nature

Dear Pali Pres,

Now that the calendar has turned to November and Thanksgiving is less than three weeks away (can you believe it!), I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a “Happy Fall!” Of course, given the weather we’ve had this week—with temps in the 80s—it feels like I should be wishing everyone a “Happy Summer” instead!

But even with this heatwave, there are reminders all around us of the changing seasons. This past week Mary and I had a blast carving pumpkins with our boys and taking them trick-or-treating. We also helped our youngest son, Luke, complete a school project in which he needed to collect leaves, twigs, and other items that birds use to make their nests. It was in walking around our neighborhood in search of these items that I felt a strong connection to nature and felt grateful for autumn (albeit a very summer-like autumn thus far).

As luck would have it—or by God’s good timing—the same day I helped Luke collect fallen leaves, I read a poem in my daily devotional about recognizing God’s Spirit in the seasons and in nature. This poem was written by Choctaw elder and retired Episcopal bishop Steven Charleston:  

For all the great thoughts I have read

For all the deep books I have studied

None has brought me nearer to Spirit

Than a walk beneath shimmering leaves

Golden red with the fire of autumn

When the air is crisp

And the sun a pale eye, watching.

I am a scholar of the senses

A theologian of the tangible.

Spirit touches me and I touch Spirit

Each time I lift a leaf from my path

A thin flake of fire golden red

Still warm from the breath that made it.

I hope you too will find yourself brought “nearer to Spirit” in these early November days, perhaps during a walk beneath shimmering leaves or while breathing in the crisp air (which will happen eventually). As Charleston puts it so well in his poem, we need not turn only to books to draw closer to God, or to “touch Spirit.” God is revealed to us in the natural world all around us, which is a beautiful and always accessible gift!

Grace and peace,

Pastor Matt