With my local time just a shade after midnight and officially into Easter/Resurrection Day/what have you, I thought I'd post a Radix Fidem teaching that--more or less--isn't directly related to this holiday. And to add to the irrelevancy, like all those heavy metal bands in Europe like to do, I'm asking for some "crowd participation" here, because your preference is actually the teaching.

We all regard and interact with creation in our own way, and naturally we prefer some ways of meditating and interacting over others. What's your favorite way to take in God's handiwork? Again, there are no wrong answers here; it's all based on our individual tastes and pull of our spirits.

Me, personally, I enjoy taking in the moon, stars, and planets. This is during the night, obviously (I take to heart Louis Armstrong's lyric about the "dark, sacred"), so at the daytime hours, the sun and clouds call out to me. My favorable hang ups about celestial things probably stem from my interests in sci-fi and fantasy, though it's difficult to say which one begat the other, or if they are sourced from something else.

There's a few spots locally where I can go to get my fill of the nighttime sky without the hindrance of light pollution. I haven't visited any place in particular yet, but I plan to once the weather becomes tolerable. There's a huge array of soccer fields in a park near where I live. I may pay it a visit soon, assuming it's not closed during nighttime hours. And even if it is, I can keep a secret...

There's always a story in my head, and those things in the sky hold uncountable possible stories within them. I think that's part of the draw for me, yet one of the pitfalls is that stories involving space travel, or just earth-bound astronomy, usually come from a western/materialist philosophy; the stories go far as the senses and what we can know about the workings of things out there. Nothing is wrong with the senses or head knowledge, but we pass up a whole wealth of eternal knowledge if we satisfy ourselves with stopping there. Fantasy stories can sometimes embrace the mystical but they rarely involve matters of deep space. It's a rare but delightful experience if I come across a book or movie that combines both effectively. There are not nearly enough of those kinds of stories.

I want to add more thoughts on this idea, but I want to hear from Radix Fidem folks about what they love to experience.

My strongest moments are standing on rocks next to moving water and the wind blowing. It's as if the wind itself talks to me. I'd still like to sample climbing a significant hill or mountain when there's no one else around at or near the peak.

(04-01-2018, 03:40 PM)Ed Hurst Wrote: My strongest moments are standing on rocks next to moving water and the wind blowing. It's as if the wind itself talks to me. I'd still like to sample climbing a significant hill or mountain when there's no one else around at or near the peak.

Thanks for the reminder, Ed. I also want to plan in doing some hiking this year, in the non-winter weather. That would also get me some good sky views.

Anywhere out in the woods, I talk to all the flora and fauna from the biggest trees to the microbes in the dirt. They know I'm a friend which is a better preventer of biting bugs than deet. Occasionally, at the Maze at Bass Lake near Blowing Rock, NC, I'm busted talking to plants or hugging a tree. I get funny looks but, I just smile because no explanation outside of nut is open to their befuddled Western thinking.

(04-04-2018, 02:48 AM)IainH Wrote: Anywhere out in the woods, I talk to all the flora and fauna from the biggest trees to the microbes in the dirt. They know I'm a friend which is a better preventer of biting bugs than deet. Occasionally, at the Maze at Bass Lake near Blowing Rock, NC, I'm busted talking to plants or hugging a tree. I get funny looks but, I just smile because no explanation outside of nut is open to their befuddled Western thinking.

Honestly, I'd look at you weird, too. Unless I knew you, then I'd look...with you.

Joking aside, and to adopt a current phrase of the day, "you do you." That's the entire point of our relationship with creation as a living that bears the mark of the Creator. My weird is your normal, and vice versa.

There's a few things this ridiculous world can't take away from us, and this is one of them.

My absolutely favorite moments are simply standing out on my deck or walking in my yard and taking in every leaf, blade of grass, critter scampering or flitting about; or meandering along our creek.  They all speak to me through their lovely scents (e.g. the Pawlonia tree now in heavy bloom), their gentle and sometimes wild motions as the wind blows through, their sweet bursts of song (be it bird, frog or cricket) and their simple yet many expressions of love and affection towards me.  Always changing, each moment presents something new for me to behold.  Blows me away every time!