JC by Mikey Famiglietti

I was pondering on what Jesus meant to me and had a small but significant realization. I believe that Jesus was a normal human being just like the rest of us, but indeed a great prophet. But the difference between him and us is simply fear. Today we are constantly pumped with fear, whether it is future terrorist attacks or the oncoming event of World War 3. Our motivation to make a change we want to see is obsolete because of our fear of death. Jesus was not scared of death. He took the time to leave society…retreating to the wilderness to collect his many great thoughts and proposed them to the world when he returned to civilization. He was willing to die for what he truly believed in. He wanted to see change in the world because he felt something was not right. Jesus is the most glorified person that died for what he believed in, but I feel he was not the only person to do so. Jim Morrison, John Lennon, and Martin Luther King are all people I see on the same page as Jesus. They all were not afraid to be the change they wanted to see and they were willing to die for it. For thousands of years the world has been in chaos, violence about beliefs, money, and property. People die for what they believe in every passing moment and even though they may never be glorified throughout the world as Jesus is, they go to rest knowing their purpose in life and are the seeds of the change they wanted to see in this life.

Music by Mikey Famiglietti

Music seems to be a very important thing to human beings. It has been on this planet since the beginning mankind…cave men playing rythms with stick and stones…to the what music is today. Why do we desire this organized sound? Sometimes words cannot express what one is feeling…Music is what feelings sound like. Film scores illustrate this notion very well. Ranging from eerie, dark music to beautiful, inspirational music…its truly amazing. As a musician I experience a completely different type of conversation when I play music with other people, this is how I feel today…(play a line)…oh really? Well this is how I feel today…(the other person plays a line). It is an experience only musicians can experience and truly understand and I am grateful I get to experience this unique sensation. Painters use paint to express their feelings on a canvas…Musicians use sound to express their feelings on silence…Music is the moonlight in the gloomy night of life.

Response to outside reading “On the Spiritual Benefits of Wilderness” by Baylor Johnson/ by Mikey Famiglietti

The sublimity of wild nature humbles us, minimizing the importance of our individual selves, yet comforting us with its own grandeur” (Johnson).

Wild nature leads us to experience the sensation of self-forgetting and also comforts us in the idea that our worries and problems…that seem to be so important and central to us…are nothing in the big scheme of things. When we are not noticed by society we feel insignificant…we are left feeling empty and upset. It reminds us that we have not achieved anything society sees as significant…we have not met the expectations of others. But on the other hand, being insignificant can be comforting. By demeaning our desires and weaknesses, we realize that that our worries are too small to produce any disturbance in the big scheme of things and therefore are also very insignifcant.

Response to outside reading “Wilderness Spirituality” by Michael Comins/ by Mikey Famiglietti

“Mindfulness is the great gift of wilderness” (Comins).

In wilderness we notice all the cycles, masked by civilization, that we as God’s creatures are bound to. In wilderness and through solitude, we can transcend our rational mind and focus our perception on the present. We can enter a path that is beyond ego, more oriented about our place in the big scheme of things. We enter a meditative state, clearing and calming the mind, eliminating the notion of getting lost in the “to do” list for the day that we experience daily in civilized life. Wilderness allows us to live in the moment and that is very foreign experience for people blinded by civilization.

Response to outside reading “The Spiritual Dimension of Wilderness” by Roger Kaye/by Mikey Famiglietti

“A characteristic of all spiritual traditions is the premise that concern with your self-image, status, and approval of others are barriers to transcendence” (Kaye).

Being a person who understands the value of solitude, I can relate to this passage very well. When you are in society, you are constantly aware of the vibe you are putting off. Whether it is how high you stand on the social ladder, how good you look, or if you fit into the norms of society, you always want to put off a good vibe because you never know who is observing you…we want to give people good first impressions. But if you think about it, everybody is doing this…nobody is really thinking too deeply about anybody…unless your in a close relationship. It’s almost silly, to cloud your mind with such nonsense…but we can’t help it…we’ve done it for so long…it is just instantaneous. Solitude is the key to breaking these barriers. You are free of all these unnecessary thoughts.

Response to Gatta’s “Making Nature Sacred”/ by Mikey Famiglietti

Certainly humans occupy a privileged place in this scheme, since they most obviously represent the “intelligent part of the system” and are uniquely qualified to know and to respond to the beauty of God’s self-communication” (65).

I once heard that humans are the only organism that can picture their own demise. This is why we have religion… the wonder of how we got here, our purpose for existing, and where our spirit goes after this life. These are the unsolved mysteries of the universe, that we all struggle with. I always wondered if other animals wonder about these things, but I don’t think many other animals have reached that stage of evolution. But if they don’t wonder about these mysteries, what is the meaning of their life? If they can’t wonder like we can…does that mean their life is meaningless? They don’t make scientific discoveries and develop philosophies like we do…we do have a very special place on this planet…we have a very special relationship with god in comparison to all the other organisms on this planet. We can somewhat interpret God’s messages and recognize his glory through his beauty. I’m glad to be human and have this relationship with Him.

Return to Lion’s Bridge/ By Mikey Famiglietti

As I traveled down the path a patch of yellow flowers along side of the path caught my eye. They all looked so delighted to be alive, reaching high for the sky, radiating a vibrant yellow. I could not resist, I picked one and stuck it under my nose. The scent of the season quickly filled my nostrils. I stared at the flower, observing its many pristine features. The petals, indistinguishable from each other, connected together in perfect harmony, forming a perfect disc. The core of the flower had its own character, a bit more orange than the petals. It held the flowers potent aroma, bearer of the scent of spring. This single flower will spread its beauty across the land, by an insect, the flowers’ carrier of life. This flowers beauty will be experienced by many, but only for a brief moment. It brings the scent of the season, summer is just beyond the horizon, I enjoyed it while I could. Lion’s Bridge is coming back to life…

Response to Lanes “Landscapes of the Sacred”/ by Mikey Famiglietti

From the security and stability of place we are aware of the openness, freedom, and threat of space” (221, Lane).

From the security and stability of a small town, I do not feel threatened. I am just a part of the community, everybody living completely different lives somehow…in harmony. I am about to leave this place to go camping in Colorado for a week. I have the freedom to do whatever I please, away from the expectations of the people I normally come in contact with, away from the worries of school and work, away from the discipline of practicing guitar 6 hours a day…I’m going to be free. But in contrast, I am going to be far away from the security and stability of my life right now. Out in the wilderness I’m just part of the food chain, I’m nothing special away from this place. Out in space, I could easily get lost, I have no point of reference away from this place. I don’t have a sanctuary to come back to every night in Colorado, I have no comforts away from this place. I don’t know a single soul in Colorado, a very threatening feeling, I feel the threat of space being away from this place…but that’s part of the full experience.

Solace Psychology -Jennie Pahl

"personality traits greatly found within these people are self-confidence and assertiveness."



This chapter from The Solace of Fierce Landscapes helped me to really tie everything I have been learning in psychology into this course. It totally make since as to why self-confidence and assertiveness would be two very important personality traits found in those who want to hike rugged trails. I admire the fact that Lester did the research to find out more about the kinds of people who do go on harsh hikes. It would make since that they are mentally strong before going on the hike, because they endure alot of hardships while hiking. If they break down mentally it could be a disaster for their person.

Solace God and desert -jennie Pahl

"God is a desert to be entered and loved, never an object to be grasped or understood."


This one sentence in the Solace of Fierce Landscapes book moved me like none other. I sat and pondered on it for a while. If you break down what is being said it is very true! God is a vast expansion of somewhat unknowns which resembles the desert. You are suppose to love God and have the up most respect and he is to be the center of your life, but no matter how hard you try God can never become an object to be grasped. We will never be able to physically hold him. Nor will we ever be able to understand him. I know personally when I don't understand what God did or decides to do I dwell on the question, but as my mom frequently tells me he does everything for a reason. Never second guess him he is all knowing and all love just trust. This sentence made me understand what my mom has been telling me for years!

Jennie Pahl -Wilderness that has molded me

Vaguely I remember the conversation my parents had with me and my siblings about moving the Chesterfield, Virginia. My brothers were upset that they had to leave their tree fort and could no longer terrorize the cows that backed up to our 12 acres of land, but I had no feelings about the situation. This move was going to be a radical learning experience for me for the next 9 years of my life, and I hadn’t the slightest idea.
At the age of four I was thought to be a very independent child and loved to explore. I found myself drawn to the massive woods behind my house. I would walk to the edge and my heart would begin to beat faster and faster, this was my wilderness just as the west and space were at one time man’s wilderness. I ventured in to find a world of amazing new things. Sitting on a log about two hundred yards from my house I could see nothing, but the trees which engulfed me. For the first few visits I found myself staring in amazement and looking straight up at the colossal pine trees.
After a while I began to notice the little bugs that crawled along side of me on the decaying tree trunk. I was a little taken back and scared, but I kneeled down and watched them ever so swiftly glide across the bark and tunnel between it. Walking back that afternoon I noticed some fungus growing on the end of the tree trunk. Being the curious kid I was I picked up a small twig and poked it. I wanted to see what exactly it was growing from. After only finding the end of the tree trunk I ran home and anxiously waited for my dad to come home so he could explain to me what this green stuff was.
As the years flew by I watched the seasons change the woods behind my house. I loved being in them every second of the day that I could. One day when I was in second grade I saw my first wild bunny rabbit. It was white with a gray spot on his chest. He just sat there staring at me a still as a statue. I didn’t want to scare him so I tried hard to not even breathe. About three seconds later he broke off his intense staring and continued to munch on some kind of vegetation growing from the ground. This was the first encounter of hundreds that I had with the bunnies. Up until this point the woods had always been my way of learning and growing through the exploration of wilderness. Little did I know my journey would lead me to what I feel is the most powerful spiritual connection I have ever had the honor of experiencing.
Being the youngest of three which meant having two older brothers was often what I felt was my curse. Growing up I got picked on, beat up, and yelled at and these woods were always so good to me. They were inviting, comforting, and a fun escape, in short, they were my very own dream come true. At the age of nine I told on my brother for locking me in my room, and he told me the next day that I was not what my parents had always told me. He explained that a "nice surprise" in parental terms meant I was an "accident". In his exact words I was on this Earth only because Mom and Dad’s form of birth control had failed. Jonathan, my brother, went on to tell me that my parents hated me and didn’t want me. So I packed my bookbag and ran away to the woods.
Once in the woods I found a nice place that seemed to have a little opening through the trees straight above where you could see the sky. I found myself on my knees crying and praying to God that he just take me away. For that moment which seemed like an eternity I could feel the embracement of the wilderness and God around me. It was then I realized these woods, this wilderness, was more than just a habitat as I had been taught when I recreated it in play-dough for my third grade project. These woods would see me through something that still effects me to this day.
My Mother decided the Christmas of 2000, that she would be happier without my Father. This was everything I had ever known. I found myself in the woods that year the day after a horrendous ice storm begging God to let Mom change her mind. I prayed about not letting Daddy go to hell for Mom’s selfish deciscions, and for the family to help us get through. As I fell to my knees with tears in my eyes I could hear the trees around me breaking and falling to the ground. It was like they too were dying with me, they were just so overwhelmed they snapped and fell to their death like my heart. As strange as it sounds that was the last time I was in those woods before they developed it 3 years later (and turned it into over five hundred single family homes), and to this day I can still remember the exact feelings that had come over me laying on the icy ground. After over three hours I was still there sobbing on the ground, but the whole time I was not alone I was being embraced by my father (God), the one who guided my family through the horrific experience. Around dusk my Daddy found me in the woods after hours of looking for me and as he carried me out like a helpless baby I knew these woods would become, but a foreign place when the house was sold.
My experience in those woods was a big part of my life. Through them I learned so many amazing life lessons, and came to know God ouside of boring hymnals and church. God revealed himself to me when we were inside of the wilderness that reflected everything great and amazing that he accomplished and made for us to enjoy. To this very day when I feel burdened or want to connect with God I turn to some form of nature, whether it be the beach, woods, or mountains I know where to look for that embracement every Christian longs for.

Having New Eyes

Katy Pelchy
Having New Eyes
Landscapes of the Sacred

“Traveling is a fool’s paradise. We owe to our first journeys the discovery that place is nothing.” In a sense, Emerson is right. The sacred place never guarantees a thing. Going to Jerusalem does not automatically grant the pilgrim wisdom or zeal. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes,” wrote Marcel Proust, “but in having new eyes.”

While I agree that, at times, a place’s significance means nothing, I also avidly believe that traveling has worth far beyond what people could ever expect. Traveling causes people to realign their axis mundi, and in doing such they learn and grow both spiritually and personally. There is no equivalent to traveling. You cannot get the same experience sitting in your backyard as sailing in the open sea. There is simply no comparison. Traveling enriches the life and soul and opens the mind to different cultures, beliefs, and entirely different worlds.

I do, however, agree that “the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” THIS is the point of traveling. One cannot help but have new eyes when in view is something completely new and unheard of. A person’s axis mundi is unlikely to be opened and expanded when in familiar surroundings. Therefore, while traveling is not imperative to discovery, it cannot help but aid it, for when exposed to completely alien habits, landscapes, and cultures, it is almost impossible to not have one’s eyes opened in the midst of discovery.

Place Mirrors Consciousness

Katy Pelchy
Place Mirrors Consciousness
Landscapes of the Sacred

“The spiritual experience of passage from one state of consciousness to another is often mirrored in the simultaneous passage from one particular place to another.”

In my experience, I have found this to often be true. Especially in the passage from a man-made, separated place to a natural, free setting. You can’t help but feel the change in atmosphere and the resultant change in mindset. For instance, a home is structured by nature. Everything usually has its place, and everything you see is processed, built, and put together by man. Nothing is left as natural besides maybe some plants that still grow in a confined pot. Everything is confined and set as a boundary, and therefore the consciousness of a person is going to have the same characteristics. The only stimulus for thought in a room is what is there, so the mind is also confined in its thought. In a natural environment, however, everything as far as one can see is open space. The atmosphere is one of reckless abandon and freedom, since there is no boundary (at least in a true wilderness), and nothing to block your train of thought. My mind becomes free in nature, and I find myself thinking of things that I never would have thought of in a man-made enclosure. Epiphanies happen for me in nature, since it’s like a weight has been lifted from my mind. It is the only time I feel truly free, and therefore it is the only time that my mind is free also.

The Language of Nature

Katy Pelchy
The Language of Nature
Making Nature Sacred

In Making Nature Sacred, there is a passage that expresses how Thoreau sees reading nature as reading a book, where you must only know the language in order to understand it. An example is cited about understanding a bird, and how one must only know the birdsong to hear. I think this is very insightful. There is much to be learned from nature, if one only has the right mindframe to listen. And that is what I think the “language” of nature is: the correct mindframe by which to hear it with. If one is open to learning and understanding any topic, especially nature, then usually significant thoughts follow. But what is there to be learned from a sandstorm? Or a forest stream? Or a grassy hillside? I think there is everything to learn from these things. Some of the most important truths have been discovered by contemplating in nature, and some of the deepest insights have been through observing and “listening” to landscapes. A forest trills about life. A desert blows of perseverance. The arctic whispers loneliness. The jungle screams of diversity. And in each of these settings, there are so many more specific truths to be learned. Again, one only has to know the language of open-mindedness, and has only to be willing to listen.

Why God Created Monkeys

Katy Pelchy
Why God Created Monkeys
Making Nature Sacred

“The point of the dragonfly’s terrible lip, the giant water bug, bird-song, or the beautiful dazzle and flash of sunlighted minnows, is not that it all fits together lick clockwork – for it doesn’t particularly, not even inside the goldfish bowl – but that it all flows so freely wild, like the creek, that it all surges in such a free, fringed tangle. Freedom is the world’s water and weather, the world’s nourishment freely given, its soil and sap: and the creator loves pizzazz.”

The creator loving pizzazz made me think of God having a sense of humor, which I think can be proven that He does. Why else would He have created monkeys? Or orangutans? Or elephants and manatees? Or even the sloth? True, they all have their place, but really, there is definitely some humor in that.

I had always thought that nature was interconnected down to the tiniest bit of matter. That no matter what, every bit of everything was used by something else, and that the connectedness could never be broken because everything is interdependent. At least, that’s what biology teaches. This quote from the book gave a different perspective, and got me to thinking about the true definition of freedom. Really, there CAN be no freedom if everything is so rigidly connected within its place. There is no room for it. Everything in the world DOES seem chaotic, and perhaps rightly so. The weather, creatures, death, life…it’s all somewhat random and cannot be predicted or expected. And I find it beautiful. To never know what is going to happen next, or where something’s place truly is, is a gift. It makes every moment new and exciting and gives us something mysterious to have hope in. There in beauty in chaos, and God knew this. That’s why he created the monkeys.

Meeting God Through Terror

Katy Pelchy
Meeting God Through Terror
Solace of Fierce Landscapes

“... the apophatic tradition, despite its distrust of all images of God, makes an exception in using the imagery of threatening places as a way of challenging the ego and leaving one at a loss for words. If we cannot know God's essence, we can stand in God's place --- on the high mountain, in the lonely desert, at the point where terror gives way to wonder. Only here do we enter the abandonment, the agnosia, that is finally necessary for meeting God.”

I wholly agree with this statement. It is only after we’ve lost everything that we are free to do anything, and this applies to be open to God. Going to a desolate, fierce place that we’re sure we can dominate and tame and overcome, it is easy to think we are on top of the world and indestructible. But once we are there, and come face to face with something terrifying, we see that it is actually incredibly more than we gave it credit for. Especially with landscapes, for it is easy to imagine a place in the mind, but once there, standing on the edge of something so vast and great and wondrous, it is easy to lose the sense of confidence we had a moment before.

Once the ego has passed, and the terror has passed in reluctant acceptance, the wonder is allowed to show through. People don’t like to be humbled, but we will be humbled every time when compared to an enormous mountain or an endless desert. To meet God, we must accept that He is greater than ourselves. What better way to do that than to stand next to His creation, awestruck, unable to comprehend the enormity of it all? When we subject ourselves to his wonder, we can then meet him, for we have humility and the desire to learn and be open to what is more than ourselves. I have had this experience many times. Especially at the Badlands, where I stood on a huge cliff I worked for an hour to climb and looked out over a million such cliffs that went off into the distance as far as I could see. There is no feeling such as humility, but it is through this feeling that we learn the most.

On the Edge of Life and Death

Katy Pelchy
On the Edge of Life and Death
Solace of Fierce Landscapes

"The desert fathers and mothers chose their barren locale because its values matched their own. They, too, opted to thrive on the boundary where life and death meet, living as simply as possible, with as few words as necessary, separated from the fragile anxieties of the world they had left behind.”

Why would one want to thrive on the edge of life and death? With a reminder of the tragedy and fragileness of life on their doorstep? The text indicates that it is because the values of the locale match the values of the people who live there. But which values are those? I think that the values are the blessedness of life. Life is taken for granted, but living on the edge of death makes one see life for what it is: a gift. Living next to death would make me joyous of being alive. There is no room for frivolous worries or superficial problems, because one has to concentrate on staying alive. I think that to live in such a place would be refreshing and eye-opening. To live there would be to ensure that one never takes life for granted again, and it would make it so that every happy moment is appreciated and lived to the fullest. In my life today, in the middle of suburbia, I have days where I just want to curl up and do nothing for absolutely no reason other than I’m tired of life and its issues. Living in a fierce wilderness such as the desert would make those days nonexistent, for there IS no empty drama or room to sit around and be sad. You are constantly reminded that today is another day, and that days are numbered so you must enjoy them. Otherwise, a quick reminder of the fragility of life serves to sober ones senses very quickly. I’d like to live in a world such as that. Life would be so much…simpler.

The Universal Ground

Katy Pelchy
The Universal Ground
Choice

It seems to me that wilderness is the universal truth. All cultures that I know of revere wilderness and accept its role as incredibly important to the world. It's something, in this world full of entirely different peoples, values, wants, needs, and beliefs, that is common ground. In the end, we will all fight for the same thing: to preserve nature so that we may live. But what is it about nature that so captivates almost every culture? It can't be the simple truth that nature sustains us, or else our only view of the wilderness would be objective in preserving it enough to preserve ourselves. It holds meaning beyond total comprehension. Among cultures, people have different idioms and expressions, but everyone understands the expression of feeling free atop a mountain, or feeling insignificant next to the sea. Any comparison or feeling associated with nature is comprehensible to any person in the world. Yes, we all had origins in nature. But today, more and more people are living apart from it, so origins can't be the reason. Most people have visited nature at some point in time, but the feelings elicited by standing alone on a mountaintop aren't ones that are normally had by tourists driving by in a car. So what exactly is it that makes nature so universal, even in a time as disconnected from nature as we are now? Perhaps we will never know, and perhaps that is best. For if we define the mystery, there is no mystery to keep us connected, right?

The Most Frightening Image of All

Katy Pelchy
The Most Frightening Image of All
Choice

“It is in the wilderness where one confronts the most frightening image of all – the undiscovered self.”

I read this quote and fell in love with it. It is entirely true. What more does one fear than oneself? It seems that today, people like to keep busy busy busy. Any time of introspection is often seen as a waste, and people get antsy and nervous being alone and having time to think. Or if they do think, they think about issues in their lives, or about what they are going to be doing, as was discussed in class. In the wilderness, it’s possible to forget about what you need to do or are going to be doing and get lost in the moment. And if you are alone in the wilderness, your mind is free to wander to things that you normally wouldn’t think about if you were in a group of people, simply because of the lack of stimulus. Or, actually, a change in stimulus. The change goes from social to individual, and the wilderness acts as the background medium, allowing for the switch without making it uncomfortable. Only then, when devoid of all issues and need to think on anything else, is someone able to think on themselves. Perhaps that is why so few people choose to find solace in the wilderness: they are afraid of themselves. The self is mainly undiscovered, and will always be that way. No matter how much you look into your own soul, you will still find something new and unexpected that you didn’t know about yourself. Your own mind is the largest unexplored frontier, and it is one that no one, except maybe God, will ever truly know. It’s a scary fact, but an undeniable truth nonetheless.

The Wisdom of Nature

Katy Pelchy
The Wisdom of Nature
Choice

“Nothing in the world
Is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,
Nothing can surpass it.
The soft overcomes the hard;
The gentle overcomes the rigid.
Everyone knows this is true
But few can put it into practice.”

This simple poem holds so many truths to life, and the knowledge was found by looking closer at nature. It’s funny how, if you look long enough at one subject, you are able to find a thousand different truths in it. It could be the creativity of the mind, it could be the soul’s need to find meaning, or it could be the mind’s yearning for order. I like to think, however, that nature DOES hold divine truths, and that by studying it, one is able to learn wisdom.

In terms of this poem, I completely agree. Too often people resort to drastic measures as a first response to conflict. But by merely observing a part of nature that is taken for granted and barely noticed anymore, a much simpler and less conflicting way of dealing with issues arises. I don’t agree with the part that states that everyone knows this is true. To agree with that would be to agree that people are weak to the point that they cannot be steadfast with an idea that they know will work. I’d like to think that people just don’t give it the insight that is needed. That they are ignorant, but not stupid. This pertains to myself as well, since I find myself plowing through an issue instead of gently trying to resolve it often enough. Few CAN put it into practice, but for the few who can, life sure is easier and less stressful. If only we would look to nature for wisdom more often.

Religion vs. Spirituality

Katy Pelchy
Religion vs. Spirituality
Outside Reading

“Although compatible in many cases, religion and spirituality are opposites. Religion is a holding on to – an espousing of a certain set of dogma or beliefs. In contrast, spirituality is defined as a releasing of all supposition, and thereby becoming open to a relationship with “that which is greater than self.” In other words, religion is a holding on while spirituality is a letting go.”

This paragraph I came across while reading literature citation articles opened my perception of what it means to be religious. I considered myself religious and spiritual, without really thinking there was a difference in the two. This paragraph, however, clearly states the difference, and it is a significant one at that.

I’ve met people who I would now term religious. They are close-minded, completely absorbed in what they term is “right,” and quick to judge someone according to their beliefs, or lack thereof. This is one reason why some people are so turned off by the idea of religion. The bumper sticker “I hate Christians, but I love Christ” comes to mind. Spirituality seems to be the true way of being religious, at least in terms of Christianity. To be spiritual, one doesn’t concern themselves with others. Others may do as they wish, and they should not be judged for their choices. Moreover, spirituality allows one to be open to God in every way, since it is defined in this paragraph as “becoming open to a relationship with that which is greater than self.”

Nature comes to mind with the term “that which is greater than self.” Since many people go out into nature to develop their spirituality, it seems that wilderness is a universal symbol for finding God. Even in biblical times, Jesus went out into the wilderness to pray and find answers. Nature seems to be conduit for finding oneself spiritually.

Behavioral Dysfunction and the Natural Environment

Katy Pelchy
Behavioral Dysfunction and the Natural Environment
Outside Reading

“Solitude is learned behavior. It is a capacity that results from a natural progression of the self nurtured in the natural environment. The further removed we have become from the natural environment and its attendant exposure to healthy aloneness, the less we have been able to properly develop our capacity for solitude. With much of today’s population living almost exclusively in the built environment, it is of little wonder we should see large-scale behavioral dysfunction in solitude development.”

This quote that I came across during my literature citations assignment struck a spark in me and I had to save it. I had never though of this idea before, but once I heard it, I realized how true it is. There is something about nature that elicits the response of actually wanting to be alone in it. When one is taken from nature, the want to be alone and contemplate is taken away. This, in turn, takes away one’s ability to learn how to be alone, and therefore takes away the ability to have healthy solitude at all.

Interpersonal relationships have become a crutch for many people. In observing my brother when he was younger, I remember he used to get incredibly antsy after school if he couldn’t find someone to be with. He would call every person he knew, and if that failed, then he would be restless and agitated the rest of the day. I see now how this could come to be. He never spent any time alone, due to the fact that we live in suburbia where there are few places to have real solitude. Furthermore, we live in a society that often scorns people wanting alone time, since it is seen as being socially outcast and separates that person from the rest of the group. Really, we ARE hindering ourselves from developing normally. And the effects ARE seen in the growing number of behavioral problems, especially in today’s youth.

Nowadays doctors are quick to put the label “ADD” or “ADHD” to a growing number of kids. That seems to be the quick fix of a supposed problem that nobody really knows the answer to. Would nature not supply the fix for that, as well? Perhaps all those kids need is a bit of land to explore to calm them down. A little bit of alone time in the woods, doing whatever makes that person happy, has effects unequaled in terms of healing and development. That’s all we really need: some solitude in nature.

Natures other Child: a dog -Jennie Pahl

I never though I could be close to any animal the way I am with my dog. A yeah ago tomorrow I will have had my dog Madisyn, a minature dachshund hound for a year. She is totally the light of my life. Before Madisyn I didn't care for animals and never really wanted one. She was given to me by an old highschool classmate who "didn't have the time to take care of her". From the moment she looked into my eyes I felt like she was my kid. My boyfriend hates the fact that I am soo attatched to her, I go home every weekend just to see her since she can't be up here, and at times I even call during the week to talk to her on the phone (thats odd to admitt!). Regardless I never thought I would let an animal steal my heart the way she has. Its safe to say she just hasn't had an impact on me but also my dad. My dads always been a bit of a hard butt and never let my brothers and I have animals since madisyn has come along I am not allowed to bring her down here b/c he is soo attatched. Well when I was talking to my boyfriends mom she said she had the same experience with her dog. I know I sound obsessive about her but shes my baby! I began to think that maybe this is nature's way of giving you a preparenting experience. I know my next door neighbors where never able to have kids and they have 2 dogs that they call their kids. They swear they were so lucky to have their two labs and love them like children. Are dogs like God's little children too?

The Murder of "Modern Developments"

Katy Pelchy
The Murder of “Modern Developments”
Outside reading

“When we turn our eyes from the leaders to the led and consider the fashion of modern work and possession, don’t we find that modern developments have expunged almost every trace of a life in which human beings confront each other and have meaningful relationships?”

This quote that I read in the packet “Experiencing Others: Martin Buber and Neil LaBute’s In the Company of Men caused me to think about the present state of American culture as compared to the hunters and gatherers in the wilderness. In answer to the question: yes, I believe we do find that modern developments have expunged meaningful relationships in terms of work and possession. More and more, people are becoming absorbed in their life at work and ignore their home life and hobbies. Things that bring people joy are put off for a sense of “duty” to be doing work, and so socialization and pleasure are given less priority in the factors of life. It seems to me that while, granted, ancient peoples were absorbed in their own “bubble” of the world, they were also fully a part of it.

In the ancient times, people HAD to depend on each other in order to survive. Hunters had to rely on group efforts at bringing down meat; the group had to rely on each other to give extra food when needed; the entire “tribe” had to depend on one another for information on danger, shelter, and simple need-to-knows. The social world was much different then than now, where even at work one often works alone and only confronts others in a group meeting. And at the home, it is becoming rarer that people actually KNOW their neighbors. It is simply not seen as important anymore. People want their solitude and secrecy. America is becoming less of a social country with more development, as opposed to ancient times, when life was dependent upon human relationships and interactions. It is saddening to see how far we, as a country, have fallen in terms of our community.

Yearning Disruption of Axis Mundi

Katy Pelchy

Yearning Disruption of Axis Mundi

Choice

In class we watched a film about a Spaniard who became lost in the old world of America. As he was captured and abused by natives, his sense of Axis Mundi completely broke. The movie captures him as he reasserts his center and expands it to incorporate the new land and people. As I watched the film, I was struck by the ironic nature of humanity. The Spaniard had set out to discover unfamiliar things. In essence, he had set out to GO into the chaos outside of his fabricated world of ordered cosmos. The ironic part is that he was able to fully accomplish his goal; however, once he accomplished it he was tortured by it.

The balance between comfort and discovery, the familiar and unknown, seems to me to be an indefinable one. Every person’s comfort zone is different, along with every person’s yearning for the unfamiliar and discovery. As I watched the movie, it surprised me that the thought of being put in his situation thrilled me. I long to experience an alien environment, and I yearn to be able to rearrange my order of the cosmos. But my yearning for the disruption of Axis Mundi confused me, for are we not supposed to yearn for a stable and unchanging center in order to cope with life? I guess, when it comes down to it, it is the reordering of my Axis Mundi that I long for. This fact fails to explain, however, why it thrills me to think of my Axis Mundi being completely destroyed. I wonder…do others love this feeling of being lost and uprooted as well? Or is my affinity for this thought original?

The Character of Instinct

Katy Pelchy

The Character of Instinct

Experience of a Natural Setting

When walking along the Nolan Trail, the class had the pleasure of experiencing a small snake that happened to be crossing the path. Someone attempted to pick up and handle the snake, which it very clearly did not appreciate as it struck at any limb that came near. I found myself remarking at the blatant wild streak in the creature, and its inherent aggression that served to keep it alive.

I couldn’t help but compare the untouchable snake to my own docile pets at home. The tiny wild snake’s behavior was radically different from my nearly 4 foot ball python, who I’m able to carelessly grab and throw around my neck without a second thought. Even compared to my more similar Colombian boa, who is much more restless and quicker to take on the defense than the ball, the wild snake’s behavior was rather shocking. Neither of my pets has ever stuck at anything that wasn’t a rodent, and to see the wild serpent strike so violently with hardly a cause was an eye-opener to the instinct present in all creatures. I realized that even my relatively friendly pets could choose to turn on me in less than a second given the right stimulus.

The situation reminds me of a discussion from class where a cat’s “play” is really its inability to overcome the instinct of the chase. I saw a parallel in the event with the snake, and this discussion helped me to see that while pets are considerably tame, they are still animals intent on survival. Really, all creatures are wild no matter their background or level of tameness. And really, aren’t we all just a slave to our inherent instincts at the core? Even human?

Finding My Place

Katy Pelchy
Finding My Place
Experience of a Natural Setting

When thinking on the trip to the Nolan Trail, a discussion from class comes to mind involving the experience of an environment through driving by in a car versus the experience through walking. I had never given this concept any consideration or serious thought beforehand; however, upon thinking of the differing experiences, I discovered that it was sadly true. The drive to the Nolan Trail took us past many panoramic and beautiful views that touched me and left me inwardly exclaiming over the beauty of the place.
Nonetheless, the experience was entirely different when I was standing on the edge of the very river we had viewed and passed in the van. When viewing the river from the van, I admired and exclaimed over its beauty, but when I stood on its shore, I found myself wholly permeated and overwhelmed by it. The feeling was completely alien from that which I had in the car. It was deeper, more meaningful, and depended up an active personal connection with the place rather than a passive viewing.
Standing on the grass, looking out over an expanse of moving water that dominated my vision, I was awestruck at the enormity of it. I had never seen a river so massive, and it left a permanent impression on me. My scope of the world was realigned in terms of scale, and so my place in it was reconfigured as well. One small life could not compare to something so ancient and thriving, and so I found myself humbled by the river's very presence.
I never would have experienced this with a simple passing through, for to be moved by something one must immerse oneself in it and become a part of it. I discovered my own place in the river that day, and realized how insignificant a part I was.

Sacred Place Rules? --Jennie Pahl

In my last post I talked alot about reflecting at the beach, and now I wonder what it would be like to move to a place that you find semi-sacred or sacred. After thinking about it for a while I realized maybe the beach causes us to reflect because we find something sacred about it. Growing up my Grandmother always used to tell me that she felt closes to God at the beach. I know alot of times when I do go down there and reflect on my life I always think about all the bad things I've done and how much I miss my grandma. She also said she felt close to God at the mountains because it was just soo breath taking. I've grown up taking most of my trips to the mountains in the fall and winter and occasionally one trip here or there to the beach in the fall and winter and then spending as much time as I could at the beach, lake, or river during the summer. I used to love going out on the river, but when my father bought a river house it took a little bit of the fun out of it don't get me wrong I still love going, but since he sold it two years ago I find that I love to go out on the boat with my boyfriend and our favorite other couple all week long. My mom just bought a beach house in kitty hawk and my summer plans consist of being down there for over 4 full weeks and every weekend of the summer except for two. I'm kind of scared that being down there so much will take the sacredness out of it. Is it possible to over stay your welcome in a sacred place or desacrednize it?

Water -Jennie Pahl

Have you ever noticed how being around the water, especially the beach brings upon a lot of reflection? Everytime I go to the beach I find myself reevaluating me, and things I have done, or what I should of done, and just overall reflecting on my life in general. It never fails everytime I end up at the beach I end up reflecting on some aspect of my life. I even noticed at beach week everybody seemed to be doing to same thing. As the week went on more and more of the individuals in our house would go out for a run or long walk by themselves. I got curious and asked a few of the guys what they did when they went out and many of them openly admitted they just thought about things. I often wonder what it would be like to live at the beach, if it would take away that special feeling it has. The beach in my eyes is greatly infamous for having what I'd like to refer to as no time, no hassles, just life and fun! I think after being at the beach for about 3 days you begin to get bored with thinking about the present and future and then something pulls you into the past. I know that one year we took a church reteat to ocean city, sc and my "family group" ended up having a reflection hour on the beach where we all ended up crying after we evaluated our past. I know with all of my friends we have had this discussion again and again, and I still have not figured out exactly what it is about the beach or lake etc, that makes me reflect on things sooo much.

Killing Habitats -Jennie Pahl

After reading "Grassland species loss resulting from reduced niche dimension" I began to think about our impact on habitats around the world. Driving home this weekend I saw four new neighborhoods beginning to go up in areas that were once heavily wooded. That is four areas of animal homes being destroyed, and these four neighborhoods that are being constructed are all within a mile of getting off the interstate between my dads house and chippenham. Its amazing how little we pay attention to things like this happening around us. If we take away the homes of the birds, squirrels, insects, and various other animals where are they to go? I feel like they are all just being pushed into closer proximity with one another. Thats like the idea of someone demolishing our house and then five families having to live in one house. Just because we are the dominant species does that give us the right to steal others houses? While driving through New Kent county on the way to meet my boyfriend's parents he pointed out how they had started to level out a whole side of route 60 that is very rural. He informed me that they are building a huge neighborhood of single family homes. As he continued on he get more and more upset. He loves living in the country and stated at the rate that everyone is building he might a well move out to montanna where there are more cows than people because in the next ten to twenty years nothing around here will be rural anymore. Its true though, with the demolition of all this wildlife area there is no where for the animals to go. Later that night we ended up at our friend Dexter's house. As I got to talking to his mom she explained the reason it is so noisy in her front yard. The neighbors next to her decided to knock down trees, fill in a pond, and build there only son's house on part of their property (she lives in a neighborhood where the lots range from 2-4 acres). After construction was complete the floor of her pool began to crack and as the house settle it actually broke in half. Since the pool is now broke and the frog's old home (the little pond on her neighbors land) is now filled in her poole has becom their substitute home. She displayed her desires to fix the pool but doesn't feel right about killing all the frogs. Its a sad situation the further and further in to the country and wilderness areas we move the more we force the poor animals to find new homes. Not only are the animals suffering but also home owners. New Kent happens to be one of the only counties arounf that doesn't have a law protecting adjacent properties to aftermath damages that may accumulate from changing topography. She now looks at spending thousands to fix the bottom of her pool and hire an exterminator or someone to catch and rerelease the frogs into the wild. (She didn't take us up on our offer to throw m-80's in to the pool for a little froggie explosion or to let us go frog giggin for free but..) Regardless the situation in my eyes is becoming out of hand. We need to begin to look at what we are doing to other creatures habitats.

Animal Architects --Jennie Pahl

Recently two ecologists James & Carrol Gould looked into what brain capacity limits species to being bad or good builders. In the article builders with little brians from the book Animal Architects: Building and the Evolution of Intelligence this question is studied and answered. The article references termites and how they can build a tower 6 meters tall, that is the equivalent of a 4 kilometer skyscrapper in the body to height ratio. It also references how insects build their homes in a way where they are able to get "air condition" as it is referred to, honeybees and their use of way to construct hexagonal shapes for their young to live in and to make honey, and spiders use of silk webs to name a few animal architects. From these ideas I began to question if it is that of brain size or if it is just a question of instinct. It is a known fact that all of these animals have a great deal of instinct and learned experineces which drive them to do what they do. It is also noted that mammals have less developed building skills and attributes that on the comforts and safety of the womb. In the beginning of this article I began to feel like they were saying that because mammals have a womb we were incubated in that we are less likely to have good building skills. This made no sense what-so-ever considering that we have to have a safe shelter to live in to after we are born! After beginning to question the authors they actually addressed my issues raised around the topic. They concluded that cognitive abilities ARE NOT tied into building, and that it is that of circumstance, sign stimulis, and motivation.

Nature's Sunshine -jennie Pahl

News feature: The sunshine cure is an article out of Nature's Medicine a scholarly journal that I found online. I found this article extremely interesting. Before antibiotics were used to cure Tuberculosis in 1895 a Danish scientist used a sun lamp that resembled the suns rays to cure over 800 patients of this disease that was taking the life of thousands. More recently there are scientists and doctors that are researching the benefits being in the sun can produce. A little background on Vitamin D--- Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin (meaning it can not be absorbed inless there is fat that is taken in along with the vitamin...so if you drink a propel water that claims to have been vitamin enhanced with Vit.D inless you eat something with atleast a gram of fat the vitamin will not be absorbed into the body.) You can get vitamin d through your diet or through the sun Your body contains a vit. d synthesizer in the skin that when uv rays hit it it activates it to begin to make the vitamin. Vitamin D is responsible for many different things within the body to name a few-- bone health, maintaining normal blood levels, bone mineralization, maintain a healthy immune system and help regulate cell growth and differentiation. The assumption is that the extra vitamin D the patients were producing through the sun or lamp was actually helping them to fight the disease off. Vitamin D has been found to also help with muscle strength, heals psoriasis, and helps to prevent MS, hormone-dependent cancers and type-1 diabetes. This is amazing that just one vitamin can do this. Doctors recommend spending ten minutes a day in the sun to help stimulate vitamin d production. Its amazing how ten minutes outside can help to prevent so many different illnesses! Go take a walk in nature!

importance of stories. michelle slosser

I read Frederick Buechner’s The Magnificent Defeat a few times this semester, since it is only 144 pages long and packed full of great thoughts. Some chapters I liked better than others, a few even made my eyes well up with joy and awe, but some I just half read, not connecting to their meaning, since I am selfish and didn’t get any strong emotion from reading them. Then one day in class, when we were discussing sacred place as storied place, I recollected that in one of those “boring” chapters, Buechner wrote about stories and why they were so important to people. The first reason was that people are very curious, and very insistently want to know what will happen next. We will even read or watch stories over and over again, just for the fulfillment of seeing what happens, even if we already know. His second reason is just as insightful, saying that when authors put people and events into a story, they are given meaning, and a storyteller’s claim is that life has meaning. Buechner explains further by saying that stories mean a lot to people because they suggest that life’s actions “are leading us not just anywhere but somewhere.” If there is meaning in a character’s life, then there is meaning in our lives. And a story may just give us a clue to what our life’s meaning is. So is this what makes sacred place storied place? Because if it is storied, then is it full of meaning? And maybe is we stand in this storied place long enough, then we will find meaning. Or at least we will feel that there is meaning. I think many people long to just feel meaning, and they find it in heartbreakingly sad movies, or joining a “Save Darfur” facebook group, even though they will never do anything past that to save Darfur. I am not rebuking these actions, I am merely speculating on why people do things of that sort.
I don’t know why this chapter did not fascinate me until now, probably because I didn’t bother trying to understand how it related to me.

necessary agnosia for meeting God. michelle slosser

“If we cannot know God's essence, we can stand in God's place --- on the high mountain, in the lonely desert, at the point where terror gives way to wonder. Only here do we enter the abandonment, the agnosia, that is finally necessary for meeting God.” Belden C. Lane. Solace of Fierce Landscapes
This is not the first time I have heard this basic message. Abandon yourself to God, abandon your life to Jesus, take up your cross and follow him, lose your life to find your life. I have never had an easy time understanding it, but I have always found those phrases attractive. Wikipedia says that agnosia is “a loss of ability to recognize objects, persons, sounds, shapes, or smells while the specific sense is not defective nor is there any significant memory loss.” Perception is working, but recognition is not. This is a medical condition that usually follows brain surgery or neurological illness. So why would this lack of recognition be necessary for meeting God? Maybe Lane meant something else that Wikipedia does not cover, but if that is what he meant, I am again having a hard time really understanding these ideas. My best shot at explaining this is that we need to abandon what we think we recognize, and accept the “terror” of not knowing what/who God is or what is really going on in life. It is easier to meet God at his high dangerous mountain, because he is huge and terrifying. It is easier to meet God in the lonely desert because our tiny simple thoughts are lonely in the significance and depth of God and his plan that we cannot fathom. I don’t know, maybe I am stabbing the dark here, but I would be pretty happy if I am anywhere close to being right about the meaning of agnosia abandonment to meet God.

magical night. michelle slosser

Yet another example of the deep joy and peace that the natural world brings. Friday night I was supposed to be writing journals, but the huge thunderhead coming down warwick drew my outside with an irresistible force. The whole cloud was visible, and was traveling southeast down warwick, lightning flashing across the whole cloud, in little bursts throughout it. My friend and I went to watch it on the sidewalk, but as it came closer and the streetlight got brighter, we decided to go up to the roof and watch. Fireworks also started going off from the football field, what an amazing night! It was warm enough to be in just a t-shirt, but I brought a sweatshirt in preparation for the rain that surely coming. As we sat on the roof, alone from the traffic below, and the people on the sidewalks hootin and hollerin at the fireworks, I felt very close to the weather, and felt its power. My friend commented on our ability to control just about everything in this world, except the weather. We watched the cloud come over us, high above, moving across the moon, with little holes every now and then for the moon to peak through. Lower, lighter clouds blew along faster underneath the huge rain cloud, and we watched the smaller clouds swirl about in the changing air, making all kinds of different shapes. Darkness blew over from the west, and the rain came quickly, but gently. The streetlights now showed a beautiful performance of raindrops in the light they gave off, and we got soaked. The rain tasted so good, and I liked to lick it off my top lip. I cant deny that is wasn’t a fabulous idea to sit on the highest spot available in the middle of a thunderstorm, but I like to keep the mindset that instantaneously dying from a lightning bolt is far less likely but less painful than dying in a car crash or from heart disease, so I didn’t let myself get too scared. Immersing myself in the weather was very fulfilling, I felt much more alive that night than I had for most of the semester.

the balance between the american dream and my dream. michelle slosser

My aunt Patti and uncle Alan sold their house in Norfolk 3 years ago and bought a houseboat. They have lived in Portsmouth since then, docked at a marina on the Elizabeth river. In 1985 they bought a lot of land in Lancaster County, VA, off the Rappahanock River, and since then our family has built a small house uo there, and it is our little vacation place, not completely isolated from other people, but much more so than anywhere in Hampton Roads. Last spring they went ahead with a plan that they had come up with over the year before to quit their jobs and drive their boat up the east coast into the st. lawrence river and into lake erie. They took 6 months in doing it, visiting different places and family along the way, and then they came back home and ended up with even better jobs than before they left. For a few months after they got back, they were struggling with the extreme change in lifestyle, from lazy days sun bathing, eating fresh foods from markets along the waterways, enjoying life and all the people they met along the journey. It was hard for them to come back to working in offices, him a computer consultant, her a navy social worker, not having time for all the people they wanted to spend time with, dong paperwork for hours, commuting around Hampton Roads. I asked them why they came back at all, knowing that they have no desire for a luxurious lifestyle, or climbing the corporate ladder, or early retirement. They said that they often dream about just moving to Brazil, buying a house, getting average jobs to make a living, but they would miss their family up here, and feel like they have a responsibility to be with us and the rest of their family. I cant fight with that, they are my favorite people to be around. They have an incredible balance in their life, of weekends in the forest, or travelling empty creeks, and going back to the city during the week to spend 2 hours in traffic every day, and behind desks inbetween those two hours. The balance between the American dream and my dream, they are surely my favorite role models. I wonder how long they will be able to keep up this city life before escaping to the real world of nature and spiritual growth.

claire. michelle slosser

She is the first baby I have ever known, and I am learning more from her than I have from anyone else (besides Redick of course). Everyone who meets her says she is the best tempered baby they have ever met, though i cant confirm that because i have not met many other babies. She is 10 months old now, and every weekend I see her she is a little bit different. Last time I visited her and her mother (my sister) and my mother, we all went walking in the norfolk botanical gardens. It was warm and sunny, and she just sat in her stroller, straight faced, sometimes mad when we werent blocking her from the blinding sun. my mother had a great time walking around with her, and brought her every kind of flower in the gardens to let her touch and rip apart and sometimes eat. my mom would bend down and giggle and talk to her in a very excited high pitched voice about how beautiful the flower was, and soon claire learned to be very happy to see a flower! i loved that. there is something about her that makes me think that she is much more wise than me. i think it is something in her eyes, when she stares into mine, i feel like she is looking into my soul. yet she is so kind about it, she knows exactly who really am under this silly fake skin, and she loves me regardless. i was brought to tears when i read a bible verse recently that confirmed my suspicions:

"At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children." -Matthew 11:25

In relating to this class, Claire is the most successful at the apophatic tradition. She does not know any phrases or explanations of God, she doesnt try to fathom Him, or look for answers to the meaning of life. She has an empty and open mind, so to speak, as to who/what God is, and life, and our selves, her opinions are untainted by learned thoughts or behavior, or experiences in this world. I envy her innocence and perception of what is necessary in this world: food, mother, sleep, and laughing at the cat and dog. I cant wait to spend more time with her, and to learn from her.

cemetery. michelle slosser

There is a smell cemetery behind my apartment complex (the old suites off university place) that is owned by a baptist church somewhere else in the city. It has a few huge oak trees in it, some pines, some dogwoods, and other trees. The grass is not kept up too well, but it is not overgrown. There are a few simple benches along the small loop made in the middle to walk or drive by the graves. During the first few days of warmth back in late march, i went to read and think on the benches after classes, or in the mornings before classes. During that time the birds were all trying to attract mates, and they just filled the air with songs all day long. I loved to lay in the partial shade made by the oaks and watch the twitterpated birds scurry up trunks chirping away, or vultures and hawks circling hundreds of feet above the trees. The titmouses were my favorite, they are so fast, so agile, and so tiny and cute! My mind and body would be flooded with peace during and after those times of rest under the trees and with the birds. One night I was waiting for my friend to pick me up around 11 pm, and I decided to just wait in the cemetery and listen to the night life. So I layed on a bench, on my back, and just looked up at the stars and talked to God. The ground was covered with fallen leaves, and I could hear little critters scuffling around under my bench. I figured it was just a little mouse looking for food or making a nest, or maybe it was just some crickets. A few more minutes went by, I sang a little song I had just heard at IV (quietly because it was barely able to be called singing, coming from me) and out of nowhere an image popped into my head of fingers digging through the ground from in the graves, the fingers of the dead poking up through the leaves under my bench and grabbing me. I immediately RAN home, and when i sat down in my computer chair and realized what had just happened I couldnt help but laugh at myself. How could such a silly thought take complete control over me instantaneously?!? I was having such a nice time on the bench. We are such silly people, with silly brains. I hope that I can control my fear better next time, but I have no yet gone back to the cmetery at night.

GO TO WWW.TED.COM. michelle slosser

"There is an unaccountable solace that fierce landscapes offer to the soul," "a door to a simple and holy state." -Lane

It sounds so attractive to be completely removed from my world and live a "simple and holy" life in the desert. I remember reading during research for my paper that desert people do not talk very much, if they do not find anything they really need to say, they dont say anything. Their world is very simple also, only the most necessary things live in the desert, and those creatures only perform the most necessary actions, because they do not have energy for much else in the dry, hot landscape. For those people who have only ever lived in the desert, this life must be so completely differnt from mine, and so peaceful. I want to shift to that kind of life, but after 22 years of complete luxury and spoiled comfort, I wonder if I could. I am so used to having unlimited choices in every aspect of life, what to do, where to be, who to be with, what to eat. But as I heard from a video on ted.com, choices do not make people happy, but life is actually easier and more satisfying with only a few choices available to people. Is this the solace that Lane talks about? Maybe some of it, but the holy living comes from somewhere else, something about being connected to the land and nature, "being forced inward by the desolation of what is outward." And what is inward is your spirit, and God's spirit, or something like that.

memories of place. michelle slosser

"Attachment to place comes from what we experience there, and subsequently, what we retain in our memories." -Lane

I can recall many examples of sight and smell bringing back a flood memories, good and bad, of earlier times in my life. One of the more recent ones was a memory of my first boyfriend, brian, in high school, who was very influential in my life. Just a few weeks ago, his little brother came to town to visit, and we drove on the amphibious base in va beach to see their old house. i hadnt been there since they moved away 6 years ago, and luckily it was a beautiful sunny day when we drove though. i felt like i was going through a time warp. all the feelings that i had for brian came back, though they had disappeared for years, and i felt like i was 16 years old again. i could see their old neighbors playing around in the court, i imagined us walking around the neighborhood, swinging on the swings, listening to brian talk about his philosophy on life and God and love. i just sat there in the passenger seat smiling from ear to ear, feeling like i was in a completely different world, a different time. its not that this naval base neighborhood was anything particularly beautiful or inspiring, actually most of the buildings were clearly getting old, and most of the neighborhood kids were smoking or talking on cell phones, though clearly no older than high schoolers. in reality the neighborhood had changed, but in my head i was 16 and frolicking around without a care in the world, except the impending arrival of my mother to pick me up and take me home at the end of the day.

Jump into the water! michelle slosser

In Making Nature Sacred, Anne Bradstreet talks about humans being existential amphibians in this world; belonging and not belonging. This was a very interesting topic to me, since I personally have definitely felt both at different points in my life. Thinking further into the analogy, amphibian creatures on this earth can be on land and in water, and I like to think that the world is our land, and the spiritual world, or heaven if u will, is the water. Has water not always captured our imaginations and mesmerized us, with its power and beauty, gentleness and lyrical movement? Water is the most influential substance on this earth, giving life wherever it goes. It makes up most of the world, yet we are not often in close contact with it, unless it comes from our faucets. Also, amphibians have their most important life events in the water, mating, laying eggs, and growing into adults. I think the same can be said for the spiritual world. Though a lot of people do not consider it a big priority, and some do not consider it at all, being connected to, or simply aware of, the spiritual world gives life and peace. In the end of our lives, I think that our relationship with the spiritual will be more important than a lot of things we spend time on in our earthly world.

dispensationalists

I was reading an article about dispensationalists teaching that preserving the earth was not necessary because the rapture is coming and the declining environment is just a sign of that. This to me goes completely against what God would want. If God masks himself in nature then why would he want his creation destroyed? His creation is a pert of him and a part of us and to believe that destroying the environment is good is to believe that it is good for us to lose touch with him.

#12

“To the faithful, the healing power of Christ and that of the earth itself are indistinguishable here at the sacred place”

This is something I loved reading because it is something I feel often. When I go into the woods God’s creation becomes a way for God to talk to me. I go into the wilderness searching for healing and nurturing and I come out feeling refreshed. I know that God is the only one who can provide that, yet I still credit it to the wilderness.

technology

We talked one day early in the semester about how we are connected to technology and how that separates us from nature. As I prepare to go hiking this summer I realize how strange it will be going into the woods for two weeks and not having any of the things my daily life revolves around. As I begin my day here at school I always wake up, check my AIM and jump in the shower. Although AIM might be the least of my worries on the trail, a SHOWER is certainly something I will be missing. Other than that I can remember on shorter hiking trips the other things I miss and how I make up for not having them. As you hike there is no big stove in the wilderness, but we make up for it by bringing something smaller and less effective. There is no TV in the wilderness but there are friends to talk to and animals to watch. Overall this is just me noting that although I am about to enter the wilderness for a couple weeks I realize that I can’t separate myself from technology.

#10

I was reading an article the other day on sequoia’s in the redwood forests and it made me think about how God masks himself in earthly things. These struck me as a great example of how God shows us himself on earth. They are the most impressive tree I had ever heard of. Living thousands of years, growing to be over 300 feet, they are here when we enter the earth and here when we leave it. Although they are not eternal like God they do last longer than we do. I can see why many people worship natural things when I think about how great some parts of nature are. Not only these sequoias hold many features that are superior to man but also there are animals that over power men and other plants that have been around longer than men.

leaves and memories

Leaves are my favorite part of nature. When I was little me and my grandpa used to take me hiking and he started teaching me what trees were which based on what their leaves looked like. I used to go outside when I was little and watch little bugs munching on the leaves. On weekends me and my family used to go up in the mountains in the summer and in the spring, when the leaves were green and when they were full of colors. Basically Every time I walk outside and take the time to notice where I am I have a great day because as long as there are leaves around I have something to think about and remember.

hiking trip

I went hiking over spring break with my family in Roanoke and had a really great day. We hiked about 4 hours and the sites were beautiful until the end when we came to some overlooks and all you could see were mining spots. This brought to my mind the destructive nature of humans in their relationship with the environment. Early in the hike I saw a mink and a few deer and at the top I found an environment that those creatures could no longer live in. This made me think about discussions we have had about man moving into new environments and made me wonder if man would one day consume all land and completely ignore what all other creatures of the earth needed. I came to no conclusions though.

community on the trail

As I was researching for my paper about Appalachian trail experiences my favorite thing that I found was that most hikers talked about how while on the trail they formed a community or a family with the other hikers. They said that they bonded together to get through the day and to overcome the environment. This is cool because it shows how nature also shapes our relationships. In opposition to this you may notice when you go into a city that people are much more independent form one another. I would assert that this is because their environment allows them to separate themselves from each other. They don’t need each other to overcome physical obstacles as much.

#6

“we belong and do not belong to nature”
-Making Nature Sacred

I wrote briefly earlier about the temporary nature of the flesh, however there are other ways that we are and aren’t of the earth. In the Bible God makes man of the earth, in this obvious physical way we are immediately related to the earth. We are also related to the earth in a way that we too were made. We are separated from the earth however in that God breathed into us and set man apart. This belonging and not belonging to the earth is a confusing idea to me and it makes me wonder if it is this that makes us always at odds with the earth. Man constantly seems to be struggling to find his place in relationship to the earth and therefore he often corrupts and destroys and damages the earth. Perhaps if man could find a better way to relate to the earth he would stop being so confused about whether or not he is of or not of the earth.

culture

While reading Making Nature Sacred we began to discuss what culture was and one conclusion we made was that culture and nature affected each other. I think this is very interesting especially in regards to nature affecting culture. In Hebrew Bible class the other day we were studying the Assyrians and Prof. Strehle pointed out that their land was not very fertile and that was the reason why they became a robber state. This effect of the land grew not only into them being a robber state but they actually became a state of great violence. The violence was not only in their actions but it seeped into their art too. Often their art consisted of vile paintings of remains of people and of violence. All of this violence, all because they were a people who couldn’t grow their own food due to their environment.

“Above all else, sacred place is storied place”

When I was growing up there were places that I always went with my family; the mountains, downtown Fredericksburg and my grandmother’s farm were a few. The weird thing is when I go back today, I always find myself remembering those times and reminiscing or story telling. Some of the places that I go hold nothing for me but yet I find myself returning to them only to feel the things I felt there as a child. It’s almost like I can still feel everyone with me who joined me in those locations, even though they aren’t even all alive anymore.

Axiom Lane

As I was writing my final paper for Religion and Ecology it came to my attention how important Lane’s axiom that says, “sacred place can be tred upon without being entered,” is. I was searching through trail journals of people who had thru-hiked or had tried to thru-hike and found that everyone had a different experience on the trail. The most interesting fact I found was that every once in a while you would find people who were doing the hike only for enjoyment and they discovered that it was not any fun because they weren’t finding anything new. They had not gone onto the trail expecting to interact with it and therefore they weren’t interacting.

“poets make the best topographers” Lane

This was my favorite quote in the book Landscapes of the Sacred. It drew attention to God showing himself to his people, through the works of his people. God not only uses the physicality of our beings and of the rest of his creation, but also he uses what we create. This shows us that it is our own interpretation of what we see that makes something sacred, not some holy mist that clouds around a place.

Lane

“In Christian thought, the one great practical truth of the incarnation is that the ordinary is no longer what it appears.”
-Lane

This quote points out that God not only masks himself in wilderness, as we have studied in class, but also in man. Based on this I think I am amazed at how man is actually a part of God’s great creation. Although God set us apart from the rest of nature this act of masking himself in human flesh, reminds me that our bodies are just flesh. This body is just like every other part of the earth, here today gone tomorrow. Maybe in this act that is what God wanted to remind us of, how temporary we are and how great he is.

sacred place can be tred upon without being entered. michelle slosser

This is one of those concepts that makes me sad and joyful at the same time. My initial reaction is sad of course, being judgemental about "close-minded people" not appreciating a sacred mountain in new mexico, or my friend not having the deep spiritual experience at a beautiful dock that I had brought her to, since I had just had one a few nights ago. It is the most beautiful place (to me)! Every time I had gone by myself I had felt powerfully aware of life and spirit and God. But she was cold, and scared of the dark, and thinking about her boyfriend. So I had experienced this beautiful place, and not everyone can experience it unless they want to, and unless they know how to see everything (or at least a lot) in the present moment. I feel happy when I realize that if everyone had the same experience as me, it would be so crowded! And after one or two times of experiencing it, people would get bored, they wouldnt care as much, they wouldnt even go because they know the experience will always be there. So I should be glad that my sacred dock cannot always be entered, or it wouldnt be sacred anymore.

puritans and hebrews. michelle slosser

I think the comparison Gatta makes between the Puritans who came to New England and the Hebrews who left Egypt and wandered the Sinai desert is very interesting. The Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt, then they escaped and wandered in the desert for 40 years until they were shown Canaan, which they took by force and destroyed the Canaanites. The Puritans, or the Europeans really, who came to North American, also took it by force and all but destroyed the Native Americans who were indigenous to the land. Now I do not claim to know much history on the subject, but I cant help but think about the Jews that created the State of Israel in 1948, once again taking a land by force that was previously occupied by the Palestinians, as I understand it. It is so sad to me that the Native Americans could not fight back as hard against the Europeans as the Palestinians have fought against the Jews. But then again, it is even more sad that any one is fighting over land, so violently, and not coming to rational humane agreements about things. But who am I to talk, I guess. The Canaanites, the Native Americans, the Palestinians, all "bad guys" to a white christian american, who I also can claim to be. So how can I blindly support the Hebrews conquering of Canaan and not the European conquering of the Native Americans? My journals are mostly questions, there is so much I do not know.

technological tether. michelle slosser

The first day of class Dr. Redick mentioned an idea that comes back to me every now and than about being in the wilderness and feeling very attached to your man-made objects. My summer of 2006 had been in the desert, and I immediately knew what he meant when mentioned a backpack being a technological tether. Its no secret that my summer had been hard, and that I did not come back entirely in one piece. A lot can happen to a group of 8 people if they are left in the desert by themselves for 3 months, and I was no where near figuring out what HAD happened when i came into Redicks class. I was mesmerized from the first moment of how he explained, without knowing it, exactly what happened. On the specific subject of the backpack, I felt a little bit ashamed, because I had treated that thing like my absolute life support, as well as other things we brought with us like tents and trucks. I remember some nights, when I would be alone on top of a mountain sitting at a tracking station, I would put my feet inside my backpack to keep them warm, and that action would actually bring me comfort, or so i thought at the time. listening to a radio station, no matter what was playing on it, would be my escape from my discomfort of that strange lonely place i was in. How I regretted my actions on that first day of class, how foolish I had been when I was told what I had been doing! Will I ever get a chance to live so close to nature again? Did I waste a magnificent opportunity because I am so fearful? It wouldnt be the first time.

Katie Kreisheimer - Landscapes of Sacred pg 79

Landscapes of the Sacred “Relation to the soil” pg. 79

“One’s relation to the soil… is a means of making subtle connection with the holy.” This is the belief of many of the Native American traditions and spirituality. I thought this was interesting because it went on to say that “the old people came literally to love the soil and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of being close to a mothering power.” In everyday society, this is not how regular people conduct themselves, but I believe this is one of the many connections people seek when going out to experience the wilderness. I believe that you can really revere the earth and form a connection to its sacredness through the humanly senses. Walking barefoot on the earth is just one example. A person can connect better through the touch, texture, temperature, etc. Sound, smell, and the sight of the different aspects of wilderness also help create a better relationship between the two. When a person sets out into the wilderness to experience what it has to offer, all of their senses become more heightened and they form a better relationship to the land which creates a closer connection to the holy and sacred.

Katie Kreisheimer -natural setting

Natural Setting- Birds
The other day when I was walking through the woods, there were puddles of water everywhere because it had just rained. As I passed one particular puddle, I noticed there was a robin bathing in it. It kept fluttering its wings and ducking its head under so water splashed everywhere. First of all, I didn’t even know birds wash themselves off, but that’s not what got me thinking. It made me notice the vast difference between animals in general and humans. We’re classified as animals, but personally, I don’t agree. Even though most animals are wild, we have domesticated ones as well, but even those animals bathe themselves in public. They interact day to day in their own flesh and skin, mate in public, and bathe in public. We are the only “animals” that hide ourselves off from everything that was once natural and instinctual. We wear clothing to cover our own flesh and skin and we mate and bathe in private. Even though I abide by these social norms and rules and am glad everyone else does, I just think it is interesting how culture and society have molded us into a new kind of species.

Katie Kreisheimer- Landscapes of Sacred pg73

Landscapes of the Sacred “Sacred Places” pg. 73

“The most sacred place to us in invariably that which has been internalized- constituted as an inner beauty, remembered into a being richer even than it had been in reality. We know all the most meaningful places only in retrospect. The sacred center is essentially a non-geographical entity, a created thing, ultimately an illusion, yet paradoxically, also a place more real than real.”
I agree and believe in both parts of this quote Lanes presents in chapter 3. I also think they intertwine. Every person has their own belief in a sacred place depending on what a person thinks to be sacred. The most sacred place to a person is, in fact, internalized; it’s kept within a person’s mind and soul where it is always remembered. It is also always visited, for a person doesn’t have to travel to go there. I also agree with the idea that a sacred place is not a geographical point, because normally the sacredness of a place does not deal with somewhere or some thing tangible. For example, the axis mundi is the “center” that is suppose to be the most sacred of all, away from the chaos. The axis mundi can be a specific place, or center, on earth that a person can think up in their mind, but as for someone else, their sacred axis mundi may be centralized else where. A person can believe it to be a real point somewhere on the globe; however, ultimately, that is still created in their mind where they keep it internalized. Sacred places are created through belief, rituals, and spiritualities, which can have the most meaningfulness to a person making it, as Lane states, more real than real.

Words - Shayna Daghigh

One day in class we spoke about neologism. In case you don’t remember what it means, it means making up a new word. I was then thinking if I made up a word, what word would that be? What would I make it mean? The fact that the word hasn’t been created yet the possibilities are endless, well unless it is a word that already exists. I think I would create a word that sounded funny. Something that once was said would make people laugh and say “excuse me?” Then you could spell the word however you like and claim it doesn’t sound like it is spelt. Now doing stuff like that might be kind of weird, but I’m just thinking about all the options. Although does the English language need another word? It already has so many. I think I’ve heard before that one of the reasons that English is so hard to learn is that we have so many words that mean the same thing. Then on that thought, do we already have words to describe everything and anything? Since beginning writing this blog, I still haven’t thought of a word. Maybe it’s because I haven’t narrowed the idea down to a topic. Maybe one day though a word will dawn on me.

Cloud Easton Response

Article Read:
Land in the American Religous Experience

This article talks about a significant development in how the Puritans saw the new world in which they landed. Confronted by the wilds of the world, it is thought that by gods ordanment they felt driven to tame it to show their loyalty to god. To turn this wild place into vaste feilds for crops and have the chance at survival, it is explaiined that they had been turning the land "for god's purposes" by making fire wood and farm land.While nothing spectacular i found this rather interesting as a way of justifing all the hardships endured bye these early peoples. I find it facinating but then I am a history major. :)

Cloud Easton, Reading Question

From the reading: The land in American religouse experience

Within this reading there is much discussion on the manifest destiny and how it relates to the early Americans spreading throughout the colonies. While it takes on a hard analytical view of things and what happened, there is something tha escapes my thought process.
"For the most obvious reason for dominence of the land at the beginning, for those who cam when space of America was wilderness, was that it was clearly there-can could not be ignored."
My question on this statement is how to interpret this. Was it simply a "we found it so its ours" mentality, or rather a "well we have no other choice might as well claim it?" These are the view points i cannot derive. The words i get. Factually I understand what is being stated, but how to take the implications I don't understand at all. The talk of the first peoples who landed makes it sound as if it were a first come first serve basis, but then at the end the comment sounds as if they had no choice in the matter and had to take the land. I am so confused @_@

Cloud Easton, A lifetime to perform

Tonight I performed my last concert of the year with the Men's Chorus ensemble here at CNU. While not the best performance I have ever held it had its own incredible points of magnitude, even within this small choir or rag-tag men. I learned something about myself tonight at the performance. Tonight I realized just how cold and cut off I can make myself. Having become detached from a place that used to bring joy and excitement now I only feel like I have a job to do. I don't know what has changed in me but something certainly has. Singing, once the light of my existence has died out from my very being. While I sat and watched everyone clap, hug, cheer, and wave good bye for a year, I felt nothing more than a job was done and one less item was to be performed. I can honestly say I have never felt so insecure in my entire life. What was once my very own Kairos is now dead to me. That time in my life has past, and a pert of me mourns for its passing.

Katie Kreisheimer - culture & nature

Culture and Nature
Recently I took a trip down to Florida where I visited Universal Studios and the Island of Adventures theme park. Within the theme park they had different areas and “places” you could go, such as Jurassic Park and Dr. Seuss Land. When we went into Jurassic Park, the entire area was filled with plants and vegetation to make you feel like you were out in the wild with the dinosaurs. There were even streams and huge rock waterfalls that towered into the sky. I find it interesting the way people can use nature to create an imaginary world and sense of place that is not real. The waterfalls were obviously man made and the beautiful vegetation was strategically placed so that tourists felt they were somewhere in the wild, when really they were in the center of a cultural spill. By creating this fake world of Jurassic Park by using real aspects of our own world, our culture is basically playing mind games on those who are willing to believe it. There were visitors taking pictures and eating up the beauty of this “natural world,” but I did not find it to be anything but annoying. I want to experience those type of natural settings out in the wild where they are “naturally” suppose to be, not in the middle of something fake. There is already a problem between experiencing wilderness on a deeper level without the cultural interruptions, and Universal, like Disney World, is trying to create a place unlike the society and culture we experience daily. That’s fine, but taking precious wildlife and such just subtracts from the pureness of our real nature. By visiting types of places which are suppose to make us feel like we are escaping everyday society, we are really just giving into it more

Cloud Easton, A Personal Labyrinth

Okay, so this is jumping way back to the very beginning of term but I hit a point that reminded me of the labyrinth we discussed. A few days ago I had to return home to see a friend of mine what had been rather distraught. The entire car ride home (being 2 hours) made me think of a labyrinth. Nothing but my thoughts to guide me i found this rather profound time to think. Twisting and turning up the highway home ever reaching the endpoint but taking time away from the rest of the world to reflect on what had happened in her life and in mine that would bring us to this conclusion ahead of me. Heralding a long time ago I know, but i was wandering, has anyone else had similar feelings at some point?

Katie Kreisheimer- Making Nature Sacred pg 41

Making Nature Sacred “Belonging/Not Belonging to Nature” pg 41

Bradstreet presents the position that “we belong and do not belong to ‘nature.’” Though she continues on further to talk about how humans relate to existential amphibians, I perceived this quote in a different way. I relate the idea that we belong and don’t belong to nature in the sense of apophatic and kataphatic. We have the perception of nature that is familiar to us, with specific things we know, understand, and recognize that play the kataphatic role. Such as with the wilderness; there are specific things in specific places, and even we as humans belong in certain places made for us. We view ourselves as relating to nonhuman objects and so forth. We’re a part of nature in that sense. However, then there’s the apophatic perspective of nature that is beyond human existence and culture. It is the parts of nature that humans are not associated with, such as how unfamiliar we are to creatures in nature and other aspects of the wilderness. In this sense, we are not a part of nature. I believe in both views and agree with Bradstreet, we are a part of nature in a certain sense, but are not in another.

Katie Kreisheimer - Making Nature Sacred

Making Nature Sacred “Simple tasks as religious acts” pg. 107

“Thaxter approaches even the simple task of planting seeds as a religious act:
I always do it with a joy that is largely mixed with awe. I watch my garden beans after they are sown, and think how one of God’s exquisite miracles is going on beneath the dark earth out of sight… Yes, the sowing of a seed seems a very simple matter but I always feel as if it were a sacred thing among the mysteries of God.”
I found myself comparing this section of Making Nature Sacred to what we have discussed in class about masking the Holy. The simple act of planting a seed into the ground and having some type of living plant grow up from beneath the ground may seem common to most people. However, when you think about it on a deeper level, it really makes you wonder how that happens, especially without sunlight. Thaxter finds the sprouting of seeds to have been one of the many workings of God’s mysteries, and for something like a beautiful flower, or some type of vegetation, maybe even one we as use to survive, to sprout up is a sacred experience. A simple seed is giving life to something that is going to be beneficial to something or someone on earth. There are millions of plants and vegetation that are all over the earth, so one may not seem more special than another. It’s the hidden workings of God that really make each particular plant special, though. The holy is masked in each seed and behind each plant’s beauty. It may not be evident to others, but it is just one of the many ways that God hides his miracles on earth. No two plants are alike, and no seed can grow into something beautiful until God releases himself somehow or another in each occurrence. The Holy is masked everywhere.

Austin Magruder - Top of the world

This past winter break, I visited a friend who lives in Aspen, Colorado. I went out mainly to snowboard. Before this trip, I had never left the east coast, and let me tell you, the Rocky mountains are something else. One day while snowboarding, I had gone off the trail and fallen in chest deep snow, after what seemed like an hour of pushing my way back towards the run, I was exhausted. I sat down and looked out across the horizon and I could see for miles. It was the most beautiful view I had ever seen. As I sat there catching my breath, alone at the top of this mountain, it began to snow, hard. It became almost a total whiteout and it was dead silent. This event made me think about how incredible our planet really is. It was a very surreal experience being up their alone, and I think I learned something about myself.

Apopathic Goldmund vs. Kataphatic Narcissus. michelle slosser

I am not a big reader, but the book Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse has been a recurrent thought of my every day since I read it about a month ago. Goldmund spent most of his life searching for the meaning of life in nature, love, senses, and emotions. Narcissus is his opposite, strong in mind and never letting emotions take hold of him. I can't help but think about these two characters when I read about the kataphatic and apophatic in Lane's writing. Lane compares harsh landscapes with the apophatic, as they are "poised on the edge of nothingness," just as we are when we try to fathom God. Goldmund also was in a way poised on the edge of nothingness. He was homeless, familyless, didnt have any possessions, goals, or plans. But just as God is to us, though a complete mystery, the definition of life and love, Goldmund seemed to strive for those same things. The opposite of apophatic is kataphatic, and the opposite of Goldmund was Narcissus. Kataphatic theology is the embracing of what we do know about God, describing him the best we can. Narcissus devoted his life to learning the best he could, and having the most discipline that he could, all in the name of God. They were complete opposites, but they loved and needed each other, just as we need both apophatic and kataphatic mindsets in our relationship with God today. Redick said that he strove to find a balance between the two characters in his own life, I wonder how he did that, and I wonder if I need to strive for that also...