Nature's Place

The glory of the coming of the lord. Have you heard this song? I think I’ve heard it in some war movie, an American civil war movie. I’m not sure what it is meant to convey in a war movie but today when I was walking in the cool cold water of the sea the words came into my mind.

And I laughed, at the fit of it and the absurdity.

For me the glory is the simple pleasure of being in the senses and not in my mind. It was lovely in the cold water. It was lovely seeing the blue of the sky. It was lovely seeing the form of the clouds with the wind whistling in my ear. It was lovely to see the surf break up and tumble down into a rush of foam over my feet. It was just, lovely.

I went out early to check the bush for any activity and all the characters were still there except I couldn’t find the small spider and nest. It has rained a bit since yesterday and a day is a long time in an insect’s life. So I was pleased to see the durability of nature, the tenacity of the forms of life, once more demonstrated.

The assassin and the dramatic caterpillar were the main players and they had moved miles (to them) from where they were, many branches away. And still no sign of trouble in their appearance, just being what they are, doing what they do. Then there was a newcomer, a long brown caterpillar doing a good job of looking like a branch of the bush.

I wonder how man would fare on a bush where there are so many potentially hostile neighbours. Probably he’d break down from the stress of thinking about all the possible dangers and all the possible ways to die. Fear would probably rule. He’d probably set the bush on fire and live in a very safe pile of ash.

Is that what we have done?

All copyright reserved / Mark Berkery