THE NATURE OF NATURE

JULY 22, 2019 – What is Nature? Webster’s defines it broadly as “the physical world and everything in it that is not made by people.” Religionists might define it as “creation.” Spiritualists might define it as “God” (or “god”) itself. For now, I’ll go with Webster’s.

But what exactly is the nature of Nature? Beautiful? Sure—like tall, lush, stately trees . . . except, one terribly ugly scene on our drive home yesterday evening from the cabin was a 14-mile corridor of formerly tall, lush, stately trees that had been bent, snapped, uprooted, and otherwise wrenched from their moorings by extreme winds, a force of nature.

Is Nature good? Of course! She gives us life and sustenance. On the other hand, tell that to the loons or mallards, whose young can easily wind up as the bald eagle’s next meal.

Is Nature kind and friendly? She sure was yesterday morning, as we sat on the dock and soaked up warm sunshine while birds sang and the lake water lapped the stones along the shore. But on Friday evening, I hadn’t want to be anywhere close to that lake, its surface raging under angry skies; lightning bolts striking indiscriminately and with ear-splitting sound effects.

If Nature is God’s creation, well, she’s a pretty bizarre, schizophrenic one. If God intended to control her, God failed. If God didn’t intend to control Nature, well, then I think God could use some counseling, because you don’t just unleash a child like Nature in all of her far-flung aspects and not retain some responsibility when things go wrong. As far as I know, God has yet to step forward in this regard.

If Nature is God, then, well, I think we’re pretty much screwed. It’s one thing to be dealing with Dr. Frankenstein about his creation, but it’s quite another to find yourself negotiating directly with . . . Frankenstein’s monster.

Which takes me back to Webster’s definition of nature, a definition that suggests Nature is simply going to operate according to its own rules—rules that have no moral element, purpose, or grounding. And often one set of rules—the ones governing photosynthesis, for example, in trees—works just fine for many decades, only one evening the product of those rules is confronted by another set of rules—the ones ruling over atmospheric conditions.

All of which leads me to consider the human condition and our expectations for it. Unlike any other earthbound creatures, we can be introspective and reflective. In being so, we inevitably find fault with ourselves or more often, with other members of our species. We are constantly disappointed when human events go awry; when people do bad things; when bad things happen to people.

But lest we become unduly discouraged and despairing about our deficiencies and predicaments, just remember Nature and our relationship with her. We worship her, excusing the many downsides of her . . . nature. With this now in mind, perhaps we can give ourselves more slack.

© 2019 Eric Nilsson