Who (or What) Is God?

Today I’m thinking about the earth. The dirt, trees, wind, oceans, mountains. The elements—earth, air, fire, water. All of it.

People with a deep appreciation for nature are often given a bad rap and labeled as vegetarian, New Age weirdos. Usually a certain image comes to mind when we think about these people. Perhaps you envision a bony lady with frizzy hair, glasses, and no make up. In her right hand is a glass water bottle (because the plastic ones are terrible for the earth), and in her left, a canvas bag made of recycled materials on which is written something like “Save the Earth.” Unfortunately, this is a stereotype that many people who care about nature have had to live with.

What if there’s more to the earth than just something that needs to be saved? What if the connection between the earth and us is more than an issue of dominion? What if God gave us the earth (and the fullness thereof) as a way to connect with him?

My idea of God has changed drastically in the past few months. I use to think of him as a huge person. Someone like you and me, with the same human characteristics, the same features, and the same way of communicating. I’ve always known that God is big. Everyone says that. But I think I still tried to put him in a box…just a very big box. A box the size of the universe. What I realize now is that God isn’t just someone in the universe…he IS the universe. He is everything. He is not a being that is made up of matter that stays together like a giant blob. He is the spiritual connection between two people and between a person and nature.

Everything and everyone is an extension of God. Not in the sense that we are gods. (I would never claim that because one look inside my head during a traffic jam would immediately prove otherwise.) But in the sense that we were created in his image. I believe that just as an artist would claim that his artwork is an expression of himself, God would say the same of us. Nature too. God gave man dominion over the earth in order to take care of it, but I think we often overlook the fact that nature is a way for us to have communion with God.

Have you ever prayed and just felt that you were speaking empty words? Words you know you should say but for some reason carry little meaning when they are spoken? I have. I’ve also spent a day at the beach (not praying), enjoying the crash of the waves and feeling the sand beneath me and come home feeling closer to God and more deeply connected to him than before. This was a dramatic realization for me: praying is not the only way to connect with God. Appreciating him in nature brings him just as much joy as pouring our hearts out to him and interceding for hours on end.

I encourage you, the next time you see a beautiful butterfly float by or hear the wind move through the trees, take a moment to appreciate the depth and beauty of nature. Take a moment to appreciate God.

~ by dinahwallace on February 19, 2010.