QUOTATION OF THE WEEK
"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in it roars:
I love not man the less, but Nature more."
--George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) British poet
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
The grandeur of nature is sometimes lost in our every day seemingly important duties and tasks. When was the last time a pause was taken to explore the raw beauty of nature and the miracles that are taking place around us every second of every day? While the spirit of woman, man and child is truly one of the grandest gifts that nature offers, the environment that we live in is also a grand gift. It provides an ever-changing palette of sounds, sights, smells and colors that can fill our senses and our inner spirit with profound joy and peace.
I was recently sitting on a cliff several hundred feet above the Pacific Ocean, viewing the vast panorama of the majestic sea and land spread out before me. Sitting not unlike a little ant on the anthill of earth, I did not feel insignificant or just an observer, but instead a vital living part of the scene before me. The realization that we are part of nature, connected to nature, nature itself, can bring a deeper understanding into every part of our lives.
When problems seem insurmountable; when stresses have the walls closing in; when you are just too tired to wash another dish, change another diaper, pay another bill: it is then time to find ". . . pleasure in the pathless woods, . . . rapture on the lonely shore," and hear the music "by the deep sea." It is time to realize the incredible magic that nature offers. It is time to connect with all that we are and can be.
I think I will soon head back to that ocean panorama.
Blessings and Love,
Allen Schmeltz
Copyright © 1999 Allen F. Schmeltz. All rights reserved.
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