Wilderness Spirituality Holds the Tension Between "Nature as Lover" and "Nature as Self"

Wilderness Spirituality holds the tension between "Nature as Lover" on the one hand, and "Nature as Self" on the other. In the first case, it treats the natural world as a series of far horizons that elicit our longing to explore those aspects of the Divine that we have not yet integrated into our lives. In the second case, it enables the world of Nature to mirror inner aspects of our soul - like silence, beauty and interdependence - that are an innate part of our own sacredness. This second aspect also enables the human soul to serve as a mirror in which the personal qualities of Nature come to the fore and begin to speak within the human heart. In both of these cases - as Lover and Self - Nature is seen as indwelt by both masculine and feminine aspects of the Divine - by God/Great Beyond/Transcendence on the one hand, and by Goddess/Sophia/Immanence on the other. Or, to put it another way, by Father Sky and Mother Earth.

Photos: (Top and Middle) Forest Canyon Pass ponds and Snow Buttercups on Trail Ridge, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, June 26, 2015; (Bottom) Sky Pilot blooms and Nokhu Crags, Colorado State Forest State Park, CO, June 27, 2015