What nature can teach us
Every morning, my mother looks up and admires the sky, clouds, and bamboo outside her bedroom window in Tokyo. She is not worshiping nature, but is looking up, giving thanks to God, who loves and guides. She is simply seeing nature, and the power behind all its beautiful expressions, with awe and respect.
A love of nature was part of my upbringing, and when I started studying Christian Science, the following paragraph became one of my favorite and most shared truths. It’s from “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy. “Nature voices natural, spiritual law and divine Love,” she wrote, “but human belief misinterprets nature. Arctic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens, – all point to Mind, the spiritual intelligence they reflect. The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity. Suns and planets teach grand lessons. The stars make night beautiful, and the leaflet turns naturally towards the light” (p. 240).
The violence in nature – earthquakes, destructive wind, fire – are not God’s expressions. God is Spirit, and nature is actually spiritual and harmonious. More than five months have passed since the once-in-a-century earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. And just now, one of the largest typhoons in memory has struck western Japan. Every sector of life there faces many challenges.
The recovery efforts of communities, and the hearts of those who lost their loved ones, are guided and supported by divine Love, which knows only that its own likeness is complete, perfect, and whole, lacking nothing.
My study of Christian Science has given me further insight into the spiritual nature that lies behind our surroundings. The more we see God, good – divine Love and harmonious Life – in nature and in our lives, the less we will be impressed by material law that claims destruction as a part of nature. And we will experience less and less violence in nature. “Science and Health” states, “In one sense God is identical with nature, but this nature is spiritual and is not expressed in matter” (p. 119).
We will find the true identity of nature as we find God as divine Love, whose order is always harmonious and beautiful. Nature and each of God’s sons and daughters can coexist as God and creation coexist and are inseparable.
In the past I hadn’t looked up to cherish the sky and clouds as my mother does. But now I do, for there I see infinity and infinite good. Tangible help is brought by many who can lift up their eyes from destruction and death. Spirit gives courage, stamina, patience, joy, and love to all of us, and it promises a brighter tomorrow, where Spirit becomes the center and the real face and expression of nature.
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