Denver Catholic

14 T oday, many of us often hear the phrase that one "finds God in nature." While something in that near cliché phrase rings true with me, my experience has shown me that this "finding" is quite a bit more challenging than it appears at first glance. The idea that one simply "finds" God in nature, perhaps like a friend waiting patiently on a park bench, seems to strike a dissonant chord with my own experience. There is evidence to support my intu- ition. Many people outside of the Church have come to calling their experiences in nature "spiritual" and the outdoors "their church" without (and often at odds with) reference to God. 2020 saw record numbers flocking to the outdoors as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The outdoor indus- try is suffering an unprecedented scarcity of equipment, with the bicycle industry facing a particular shortage worldwide. In recent decades, National Parks have strug- gled to keep numbers at reasonable levels, with the years leading up to the pandemic reaching some of their most crowded in recorded history. Does this mean we will see (or already have seen) a reciprocal increase in the number of people who practice religion? Definitely not. While it is apparent many who identify openly with a religious worl- dview speak about how they "find God" in the outdoors, countless individuals outside the religious sphere find something else in their experience without making an explicit reference to some supernatural presence. What are they finding? Is there an expe- rience of nature that unites both of these groups and taps into the deeper humanity that we all have in common? We find the answer in contemplation. Thomas Merton said of contemplation, "It is a kind of spiritual vision [that] sees with- out seeing and knows without knowing." The human person is quite literally made for contemplation, able to perceive God's "invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity…in the things that have been made" (Rom 1:20). Yet how few are actually able to pierce through the veil and touch that invisible nature! The experience is perhaps something like the apostles encountering the resurrected Christ. Most saw but did not believe (Luke 24:37). On the other hand, Thomas, who at first does not see and who we call the "Doubter," later sees the Lord and believes, crying "My Lord and My God" (Jn 20:28). While nature points to God's invisible nature, hidden just across the threshold of the forest, the mountain top, or the sunset, how few of us are able to proclaim these words with Thomas as we contemplate nature. Contemplation should be a natural response to reveling in God's magnificent creation and our place in it. ⊲ TH E G R E AT O UTDOO R S Finding God in nature Seven keys to help us contemplate the natural world BY CHRIS LANCIOTTI Chris Lanciotti is a Consecrated Lay Member of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae and is originally from Fort Collins. He is currently the Program Director at Creatio, Inc., a non- profit dedicated to "helping all people encounter the beauty of Creation and the Creator." MAY 2021 | DENVER CATHOLIC

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