The Peace of Nature

By Pastor Bruce

This week has already had me out in nature more than usual with an uplifting effect on my soul.

Tuesday morning as I was walking in our neighborhood, I came upon a large, beautiful bird sitting on a bush by the sidewalk, seemingly not bothered by my presence. We stared at each other from about 5 feet away until I decided to take a picture with my phone at which time he/she flew up into a nearby tree which obscured my view a bit. I sent the picture to a friend who is an amateur bird photographer, and he identified my new friend as a sharp-shinned hawk. He/she looked a lot friendlier than that name sounds, and I continued on my walk with a new “peaceful easy feelin'” as the old song goes.

    (This is much better than the blurry picture I tried to take with my phone...)

Then yesterday morning I was at Elbert Cemetery for a graveside service for Joyce Musick who was 92 years old when she entered glory on July 5. The Musick family whom I’ve known for over 30 years settled outside of Elbert in the 19^th century, and Joyce’s grandparents, parents and sisters have all been buried in the Elbert Cemetery. This was the fifth time I have gathered with them over those 30 years for these moving graveside services. I was reminded of when I officiated at my grandmother's graveside service in a similar country cemetery which overlooks Grandpa's farm in Berryton, Kansas. God gave us a quietly beautiful morning with gentle breezes and bright sunshine as we stood together in the wide-open peaceful spaces of many cherished memories.

On the way home, I stopped to sit under the Tree of Forgetfulness outside the Wood’s home as Phil and I shared what was going on in our lives. You can ask Phil and Marianne how they came to give that name to their apple tree, but it is the Tree of Forgetfulness because when they sit under it, they forget about everything except the glory of God’s good and great creation all around them. One of the things we talked about was how the greatest gift our church can offer people in these trying times is a fresh infusion of the peace of our eternal God. I was reminded of Micah 4:4, “Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken.”

The author Wendell Berry came up in our conversation and I was reminded later of this poem which also always gives me peace. I will follow it with a benediction I found somewhere (but can’t remember where).

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

                                               

                                                            – Wendell Berry –

Benediction

The deep peace of the whispering pines be with you

The deep peace of the shining stars be with you

The deep peace of the quiet earth be with you

The deep peace of the doe with her fawn be with you

The hope and peace of the spring flowers be with you.

The deep peace, eternal hope and boundless love of the Father in the gift of his Son Jesus Christ whom the Spirit raised from the dead be and abide with you this week and for all eternity. Amen.