In this New Year I suggest that you stretch your wings if you can and explore somewhere new. I read or heard somewhere that if you try a new route to somewhere you go to regularly this increases your creative potential and expands your mind. I like to explore different places but I don’t really think of them in respect to that last sentence! I just enjoy new things especially new natural places.
There are some really good places local to us here in Stoughton which if you haven’t visited you can enjoy exploring – best with a friend of course if you don’t like doing it on your own. You don’t have to be an expert in nature to appreciate them but it helps to have ways to read it.
I am going to suggest some places here but first I would like to write about place.
Since living in Guildford and being involved in a small way with A Rocha Christian’s in conservation.
I have come to appreciate through various writings from the people involved in the organization, of the importance of place and being part of a local church. A place where you can put down roots, establish yourself, those around you and demonstrate the love of God to the human and non-human creation. I might not articulate this very well but God so often works in and through a people who are involved in a place – not doing hit and run events, or travelling long distances but being part of a community. This was probably why we moved to Emmanuel as this church is very much part of the local community and we wanted to be the same.
In Forest Church we have been going to different places to experience them and see what they have to offer us. In doing this, ideally we need to consider whether we are a dominator of nature, a steward of nature, a partner with nature or a participant with nature, (adapted from Dutch philosopher Petran Kockelkoren’s work – Fundamental Attitudes With Regard To Nature) this is a challenge to all of us. There’s not space to expand on these ideas here, suffice to say the goal is to be a participant. That is a challenge even for me.
As I lead this group I am keenly aware of my own actions. Like Bruce Stanley says in his Forest Church book, I would also aspire to, and that is, to enable people to at best participate with nature to fall in love with it. “What you love, you may be better motivated to care about, even delighted to care about.” He says. This so often starts in a place by regular visits. I am, I admit not good at mining the riches of one place over and over in a regular consistent way, I do tend to jump around from place to place. I am a restless soul at times – no doubt we all would identify with that.
At the start of last year I would visit Fox Corner more regularly than I have for a place in a while. I would use a log bench near the pond as my sit spot to listen, watch and engage with the world around me. This you may think would be easy for me, but no. It’s the same with other spiritual practices, such as prayer, reading the Bible, meditating and being with or in community. These things are disciplines and are ways to help me and hopefully you as well to engage with God. This is why we need place because through that hum-drum, monotony of life one can actually begin to meet with God and experience the divine presence. Sometimes this comes in the moment and you realize God is with you at other times it’s in retrospect that you realize that it happened or so I find.
So to my early thought, some suggestions of places to go and be wild, if you haven’t found already in this locality. One I have already mentioned is Fox Corner not a large area but worth a visit, remember to go quietly, be playful if you can and pretend you’re a fox, imitating the way they walk and you might be surprised by what you see or hear! Another favourite of mine is the Ash Ranges. Sometimes access is limited by the red flag flying due to military training, but you can walk the edges if it is. This is probably one of the most secluded spots near us, where you can lose the sound of road traffic if the wind is in the right direction. Then there’s all the surrounding Common’s which many of you know of. No doubt you can do your own research and find Yourplace. If you would like help to know how you can read nature or would like more tips on places to visit I’m always happy to talk about such things. Remember God is wherever you chose to go!
