Nature's Nurture

I remember when we first moved to Roleystone. I would drive home from working in the bustle of the city and suburbs, and as I crossed Tonkin Highway and began the winding drive up the hill and into bushland, I would breathe a deep sigh of relief! It felt like driving into peace! Like crossing the busy road and escaping into country!! And it still strikes me that way!!! All around me are trees and birdsong, sunshine and open air!! And it speaks depths of rest to me!! Such a beautiful experience.

This difference in environment and their effects on me is something I have long been aware of! I remember riding the bus into the city as a teenager and thinking how cold and dark it was amongst all the buildings when there was a beautiful blue sky and sunshine way above me. And a poem scrawl into my mind about these construction achievements we are so fond and proud of as humans, and the busyness it all inspires - and how it all leaves me a bit stressed and empty. (Poem below)

The city life never speaks peace into me like nature does! Not even being in a church does that in the same way! There's something about nature. Something that speaks life, innocent joy and exuberance, strong, quiet peace and endurance, steadying calm. It breathes healing and nurture into my soul. And I love that we live in it!!

For me, it speaks God. He created it all, and his spirit and character breathes through it to me. Our own buildings and constructs will never be able to do that. The peace I sense here is from him! And I love the rest it brings me!!!