NATURE

Yesterday wasn't the first hot day of the season, but it was the first hot day, that didn't cool off when the Sun went down. The temperature was in the high eighties and it stayed over seventy until midnight. It cooled off by Morning. It is 10AM and still in the sixties. I opened up several windows last night and it was delightfully cool in the house when I got up. Unfortunately, I am going to have to close the windows again tonight as it is going to get down to the fifties and it won't get out of the sixties tomorrow. Well, that is typical Minnesota weather.

Most of my hens, lay their eggs, in the allotted space in the chicken coop. I have two, that have other ideas. One was laying her eggs in the barn and one in the old chicken coop. I found the place in the barn, on top of some hay bales, and started collecting her eggs. She got miffed and started laying her eggs in the old chicken coop, in the same box, as the other hen. They lay different colored eggs, one deep tan and one ecru, so I can easily tell them apart. Well the one, that laid the lighter colored egg, decided she wasn't going to have any of that, and started laying somewhere else. For awhile I saw her every Morning tear out of the chicken coop and head in the direction of the barn, but I couldn't find where she was laying her eggs.

Last evening I saw her out scratching around, long after the other chickens were roosting. That is unusual. I figured she must be setting on her eggs somewhere and she just left them for a few minutes. When hens are setting they leave their eggs only once or twice a day and only for a couple minutes. There is an exception and that is when it is very hot, they seem to know, they can stay off their eggs longer. I expect we will see her come into the yard, one Morning, parading a dozen or so balls of fluff around her. A hen and her chicks are one of the marvels of nature.

I am entranced with Nature. I am in awe of the intelligence of Nature. I am in love with Nature. It is painful to see how separate we have become from Nature. How did it happen? How could we think we know more than Nature? Why would we want to control and manipulate it?

When we observe the perfection of Nature, and marvel at the intelligence displayed, in every cell, in every molecule, in every atom; how can we have the arrogance, to think it is okay, to manipulate the cell structure or atomic structure for our own greed? How can we believe that GMO crops are okay? Our ability to manipulate Nature has far out stripped our wisdom. Our scientific advances are amazing. What we can, and could do, are astounding. Our wisdom? Where is it? We are stuck worshiping the false gods of money and power. We won't have the wisdom required to interfere with Nature as long as we are stuck. And we are stuck indeed.

Look what happened when we learned how to split the atom. We created a destructive device with the potential of destroying life on the planet. We have a waste problem that has stymied us. We have power plants, dotting the earth, that are disasters waiting to happen. If we had wisdom would we have done that?

If we are to acquire wisdom we must start thinking with our whole capability. We have worshiped the egoic mind long enough. It is time we thought with our heart as well as our brain.

Our science should not separate us from Nature. Our science is Nature and Nature is science. We cannot escape Nature, we are one with it.

In order to use science with wisdom, we must learn to appreciate Nature. We must fall in love with it. We must appreciate how awe struck we are! We just nibble around the edges, of the huge subject of Nature, like fleas on a dog. We forget that we are Nature. There can be no separation.

When we really appreciate what Nature is; when we have found our loving place in it, then we will have the wisdom to manipulate it. But, will we want to?

Love and Peace,  Gregg