Welcome! I am a contemplative thinker and photographer from Colorado. In this blog, you'll discover photographs that I've taken on my hiking and backpacking trips, mostly in the American West. I've paired these with my favorite inspirational and philosophical quotes - literary passages that emphasize the innate spirituality of the natural world. I hope you enjoy them!

If you'd like to purchase photo-quote greeting cards, please go to www.NaturePhoto-QuoteCards.com .


In the Spirit of Wildness,

Stephen Hatch
Fort Collins, Colorado

P.S. There's a label index at the bottom of the blog.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

We know the Word is present within us when our heart glows with warmth.


"Now bear with my foolishness for a little.  I want to tell you of my own experience . . I admit that the Word [of insight] has come to me, . . . and has come many times.  But although he has come to me, I have never been conscious of the moment of his coming . . . You ask me then how I know he is present . . . It is not by any movement of his that I recognize his coming; it is not by any of my senses that I perceive he has flooded  the depths of my being.  Only by the warmth of my heart do I perceive his presence . . . My heart grows warm within me, and I know he is there."

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, 
12th century Cistercian monk

Photo: A 500 year-old Douglas-fir glows in reflected orange light, Bryce Canyon National Park, UT; August 31, 2012

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