I was sitting in mediation in my back yard today and was interrupted by a yellow jacket buzzing around my business. Since I swell up like a deformed melon when I get stung, I jumped up and darted to safety. I made my way back to my quiet place in the yard and read Psalm 29. In this Psalm, David reflects on the supremacy of God over the natural world. He emphasizes God’s transcendence, His otherness. This channeled my mind to thinking about how much I love nature and how it has the potential to draw me closer to God. For me, it is always a means to an end, never an end in itself. The goal may be of a personal sort—to set my mind at ease, or to relax, or to enjoy nature’s beauty. Other times the goal is more spiritual as I pursue God.

     Basking in the sun provides for me just a hint of his glorious brightness. We need these metaphors to help us understand God. Jesus spoke in metaphors and parables to teach us spiritual ideas. Otherwise, how can the earthly finite mind comprehend the heavenly infinite Mind? How can mere humans entertain and comprehend even an inkling of God’s ways? We need metaphors, and whether we are consciously aware of them or not, they encompass us every time we step outside and enter into the natural world—its ruggedness, unpredictability, beauty, and at times, danger.

     We must never forget that we live in a fallen world according to the Genesis account. This beautiful world teaches us both spiritual secrets as well as dark and disturbing realities. Disease carrying insects plague many parts of the world. Even in the relative safety of these Appalachian hills in which I live, I hear stories of children getting infected with encephalitis or meningitis acquired from mosquito bites. Whether reminded by large scale natural disasters or a single attack by a cougar, we must admit that nature is not always safe.

     Ironically, in our attempt to shut out the dangers of the natural world with our artificial existence, we have potentially made our world even less safe. Our exploitation of nature and pollution has left many waterways unsafe or virtually dead. There are many plots of ground that can no longer yield safe organic vegetables or fruits because of toxins that were buried and forgotten. 

     I am again reminded of the importance of metaphor. Perhaps God is not always safe. Could it be that God really does want us to both love and fear Him? Depending on how you understand the idea of safety, God may not be safe, but this is not the same as questioning or denying his goodness or his wisdom. On a human level, we understand safety in a certain way. Parents protect their children. Soldiers protect their country. Police protect citizens. All of these are protecting their subjects from danger, harm, or evil.

     God operates on a different level altogether. He seems to be concerned with our physical or temporal well-being, but His perspective is different. He is perfectly aware of our true spiritual needs and is concerned with building up the inner human. If the two areas of need (temporal and eternal) come in conflict, I’m guessing that God is going to pick the eternal need first. I’m not suggesting that the spirit is more important than the body, but it will endure long after these bodies are gone. In fact, it may be because of his goodness or wisdom that he allows calamities and tragedies of nature to inflict us—in order to build in us something of a higher spiritual value.

     We need nature on a physical and tangible level. We depend on it for our survival. We also need nature’s metaphors to help us see God. None of this means that with the hope of becoming more like Christ I will not jump and run the next time a bee invades my personal space. I hope that my devotional time will suffice to help me be the person I should be. Furthermore, I will protect my family from nature’s fury and do my best to instill in them a healthy love and respect for God’s creation.