God and Nature Fall 2020
By Thomas Jay Oord
I plan extended solo trips in the wilderness. The time removed from civilization helps in many ways, including providing time for photographic art.
When I’m alone in nature, my life slows down. My thoughts linger longer on what matters most. I watch water flow, clouds float, and creatures move. The elements of the natural world enchant.
The lakes in the photo above hosted me for five days this summer. The highlight from the trip may have been the hour I lay on my back near snowdrifts. Cloud shadows crept slowly across the mountain crest—what we in Idaho call “the Sawtooths”—and I was mesmerized. This truth renewed its acquaintance with my conscious thought:
I and the world are in process.
When I’m alone in nature, my life slows down. My thoughts linger longer on what matters most. I watch water flow, clouds float, and creatures move. The elements of the natural world enchant.
The lakes in the photo above hosted me for five days this summer. The highlight from the trip may have been the hour I lay on my back near snowdrifts. Cloud shadows crept slowly across the mountain crest—what we in Idaho call “the Sawtooths”—and I was mesmerized. This truth renewed its acquaintance with my conscious thought:
I and the world are in process.
Making high-quality photos of insects without using a macro lens takes patience, skill, and a little luck. The reward is an uncommon glimpse at the secret lives of earth’s little ones.
God is in the details. And in the big picture. But I’m often more astounded by divine beauty in the buzzing details.
Little ones pursue purposes too; at least that’s my view of life. God gives aims to all creatures great and small. If God cares for sparrows, surely God cares for butterflies too!
In conversation with one of my doctoral students, I said we must affirm two truths simultaneously: God cares about the tiniest of creatures and the billions of galaxies. No creature is too small for God, no multiverse too big.
Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian, philosopher, and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies. Oord is an award-winning author, having written or edited more than twenty books. Oord is also an accomplished photographer and gifted speaker. He is known for contributions to research on love, open and relational theology, science and religion, and the implications of freedom and relationships for transformation.