Wash your spirit clean

We are incredibly fortunate to live near two places named after John Muir. If for some reason you aren't familiar with his name, John Muir was instrumental in the development of the National Park system in the U.S. and in preserving forests. He also wrote beautifully about his spiritual connection with nature.

Years ago, in my early twenties, while I was struggling against the faith in which I'd been raised, a friend of our family watched my spiritual consternation and gently suggested that I turn my attention to what spoke to me most deeply. For me, it was the outdoors. I grew up camping in provincial parks in Canada, swimming in ice cold lakes and rivers, climbing trees and walking trails with my family. Tying my love of nature to my faith felt natural. When I moved to California 14 years ago and was struck dumb by the endless singing stars over Death Valley and the crashing waves of the Pacific and the stinging fresh air of the Sierras, my spirit raised its head and took a fresh look around.

During our walk in Franks Valley last week, I took at least fifty photos of trees (and a few of two other subjects you might recognize). And although the melancholy of the holiday season is twitching in me and my faith still wobbles, I'm grounded by the air and the sky and the trees.

Take a course in good water and air;
and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own.
Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall you.

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.

I never saw a discontented tree.
They grip the ground as though they liked it,
and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do.

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in,
where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile,
and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods.
Wash your spirit clean.

All quotes courtesy of John Muir, poet and naturalist.