Nature's rhythm - the topic of today's video from the Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE) - is displayed in such a wide variety of forms for us. The question asked: How might the rhythms you observe in nature inform the way you live? My mind immediately jumps to all of the fascinating parallels between nature and science, and nature and math - but those aren't really things that inform the way I live. They are certainly methods of learning about the world around us, and how things work, but how do nature's rhythms affect my life?
Being female, all girls grow up with the knowledge that their own cycles are affected by the moon; interestingly, boys aren't taught that they, too, have cycles that follow the moon, where they are moodier at a certain phase or more energetic at another (as the mother of a boy, I found it useful to track just when that moody cycle would hit and when I needed to stock up on more complex carbs to keep up). Fishermen, too, learn how tides are affected by the moon, and when the best times to fish are.
Anyone with a garden learns the cycle of nature, and the best times to plant which crops, how to watch weather patterns to know when to water, when to harvest, when to turn the soil over and let it rest.
Depending on where you live, you learn to prepare for hurricanes, see the signs for tornadoes, smell the rain or snow in the air, watch the animals for warnings of earthquakes. Watching the animals and how they, as a part of nature, are affected by cycles in weather, birth, death, preparation and procreation. All around us, the way of nature can determine the direction of our footsteps as we journey through life - knowing that we, too, are a part of nature.
Knowing that God provided nature to us, we have only to listen and be aware of the lessons that literally surround us to learn and shape our own rules for life.
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