The following is part of an article that the Rev'd Richard Green wrote for this parish newsletter about a holiday he and his wife Kathleen enjoyed not far from San Francisco.
There is much that could be said about the time we spent there, but I would like to focus my comments on a particularly moving hike we took through an old growth redwood forest that is part of Elk Prairie State Park. The herd of elk that hold court in a meadow in the middle of the park are impressive, but those trees...
The trail we hiked was once the main access to the gold diggings at the beach five or so miles from the trailhead. We followed a ridge through the redwoods that took us deeper and deeper into the woods. It was a magical, mystical place that felt like some enormous cathedral crafted not by human hands, but the Divine. The quiet was punctuated by the occasional bird call, and eventually even our excited exclamations of amazement faded. Those trees were over a thousand years old. It seemed as though many that had fallen had become the birthplace of their descendents and untold varieties of other life. Animals made their dens around the roots and birds nested hundreds of feet above the ground. We were obviously on hallowed ground and were tempted to remove our shoes in reverence. The obvious connection of all life there was hard to avoid. The place was full of theological metaphors such as the necessity of fire and seeming destruction for new life to arise among the redwoods.
Immersion in the outdoors very often will make one keenly aware of the importance no, the necessity - of our role as stewards of Creation. Even dwarfed by these magnificent giants, we can quickly wipe out this bit of Eden to feed our own self-centered desires. In consuming Creation without regard to the broader physical and metaphysical consequences, we re-enact the story of the Fall time and time again. Being in right relationship with the natural world, of which we are a part, is self-serving sentimentality if we are only preserving that which is spectacular or offers us recreational opportunit.ies. Sinve all of Creation experiences a Divine indwelling, If you have done it to the least of these, my brethren, you have done it to me". Being in right relationship with Creation, which includes humanity, is being in right relationship with God.