Dive In

I know I talk about the environment quite a bit which I think is just a product of just living closer to the rhythms of nature. The alternating dry and wet seasons coming and going have noticeably changed my life over the last year and made me a stronger advocate of nature and protecting the earth. I have recently moved to the capital Kigali which takes me a step away from nature but I had this last week off and decided to head down Nyungwe National Park to go camping. I believe it’s the highest elevation rainforest in the world or if not at least in Africa. I imagine many tourists just swing into Rwanda to go see the gorillas in Virunga Park and keep traveling so Nyungwe is a relatively untouched paradise. Over the course of the 4 days I was there, a total of 18 people visited the park. This really let me see the raw beauty of God’s creation unlike I had ever seen it before. I’m in love. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful earth to provide us with everything we need. From 13 species of monkeys, to hundreds of different types of birds and butterflies and the surprisingly human like chimpanzees, our world is beautiful. The simplicity of carrying everything you need on your back, setting up your own shelter has a strange hard love appeal that I can’t explain. To lay in bed hearing the orchestra of natural sounds from the nocturnal animals of the rainforest is one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard.

I promise I’m not writing this to gloat about a nice camping trip I went on. I want to urge you to go camping yourself. Go find a nature trail close to your home and just walk, breathe, take in the rawness of God’s creation. You might fall in love like I have. I’m not sure where you are reading this and if you have an intimate relationship with God’s creation or not but regardless of where you are, give nature a try. Find a little place to get away from the air conditioning or heater, where you might get a little dirt under your finger nails or a couple more deep breaths of some good old pure fresh air. I know I’m not in the states right now but I believe it the season fall. Fall is a great time to enjoy nature. There might be a cool crisp freshness in the air when as the sun rises. The coolness of the morning might disappear by the middle of the day which might have enough warm glow from the sun to stop you in your tracks and make you say “dang it’s a beautiful day, I am blessed.”

I also believe that if you and those around you start to have this strange closer connection to nature, your actions might change to maybe keep this environment, to keep God’s creation. Dive in, don’t just go from car to house, turn around and walk on a path that isn’t concrete. Let the beauty of nature take your heart and just see what happens.