Nature

Upon hearing the word nature, I am always reminded of Robert Frost’s poem Nothing Gold Can Stay. The imagery he uses symbolizes to me the beauty of nature and how it is fleeting:

Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Nature was once revered by many cultures, and yet today, it is thought of last among the dominant countries like the United States and China who keep on contributing dangerous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Native Americans held great respect for nature, a respect akin to religious beliefs. In The Iroquois League, there were many referrals to nature to describe their culture and way of governing. The leader of Iroquois League planted a tree, naming it the Tree of the Great Peace, and that was to be the meeting place when the leaders were ‘in session’.

“Roots have spread out from the Tree of the Great Peace, one to the north, one to the east, one to the south and one to the west. The name of these roots is The Great White Roots and their nature is Peace and Strength.”

This passage from The Iroquois League implies that the tree, or more accurately the peace accord with the other tribes, is widespread and as everlasting as a tree.

Jonathan Edwards, a theologian, Puritan, and preacher also admired nature and beauty. Although, sometimes his allusions to fire and other facets of nature were not always used in a way that was synonymous with the peace associated with the word nature:

“[Sinners] are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell,” (Sinners, 2009).

Nature and all of its connotations can hold different meaning and value depending on the person’s perception of peace, strength, and clarity.

References:

Sinners. (2009). Sinners in the hands of an angry god by jonathan edwards. Retrieved on October 4, 2010 from http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/history/spurgeon/web/edwards.sinners.html