February is the month where it has been winter too long for me. I find myself feeling cold and fatigued and my creative outlook bleak. I think that one of the things I forget to do in this part of the year is to connect with nature and contemplate the created world, and I suppose that is terribly fixable.
All of the Psalms that I find most passionate, most inspiring have that wonderful wildness about them that only being intimately acquainted with the creation can bring. “The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters…” Psalm 29 goes on to talk of cedars, calfs, oxen, lightning…. oaks twisting, forests stripped bare. It may seem like a hallmark of a book written in an ancient world, but the connection of the Word to the earth is as intentional as the Word creating the earth. God put considerable work into this piece of art, and put it into our care, and I just completely forget about it sometimes.
In my comfy modern cave I forget to be stirred by the natural world. I can be found under piles of soft blankets, laptop in front of my, cup of tea in my hand, and perhaps a cat nearby. Sometimes I forget to look at the cat and marvel that an animal lives in the house with me, and become mildly annoyed that it is blocking me from watching “My Unfortunate Boyfriend” on Hulu. By no means are these bad activities, but just like you can’t live on takeout alone and be truly well fed… one cannot live in their cocoon of constructed comfort and have one’s spirit fed in a holistic way.
I have planned out my February with the goal of going to museums and feeding my sense of wonder, but I have to re-assess and ensure that I’m also feeding my sense of awe and wonder of the Master Creative One. I shall never write a poem as lovely as a tree, I see the stars and hear the rolling thunder and proclaim How Great Thou Art, I shall listen to the declaration of glory from the heavens. In other words, I hope you will join me in bundling up, and going for a walk.
The Theopathy League 