Editorial»
Tribute to Nature
NOV 05 - The cold air that came in through the open door smelt of pine leaves and of an imminent rain. The house, made of wood, lay in the middle of the open space among the pine trees and the steep cliffs. Clouds loomed heavily above the valley, yet somehow refused to descend. Suddenly you became aware of the sound of water that flowed noisily. One could easily guess that a torrent was nearby. Nonetheless, there was silence in this green valley and it did not ask for more.
You left this house drowning in this noise and took to the road that passed by its side. You walked along this small but well-kept path that climbed into the woods. After a while you arrived at a point where the road vanished all of a sudden. Soon you discovered that the river had covered the road with rocks and stones and blown the bridge away.
The river, swollen with muddy waters, flowed fiercely. It carried bits of everything that lay in its way - branches of trees, blocks of asphalt, twisted rods of iron, and rocks from the mountains that it came from. One could sense the force of nature in all this. The waters flowed carelessly, but constantly, and the trees watched in silence that what happened in their shadows.
You crossed the river carefully treading on big rocks and followed the old path that soon resumed. The path twisted and turned, grew steeper and the woods grew thicker. You slowed down, trying to gain your breath. The air grew heavy all at once and soon drops of cold rain trickled down your raincoat. You trudged along quietly, became that rain, those trees and that path.
How powerful the ways of Nature are! There is an immense beauty in nature if one has the eyes to look, and a silence if one has the heart to listen. Sometimes, it may be destructive, yet there is a latent order behind it. Sometimes it may be noisy, yet there is a raging silence in it. Unfortunately, we fail to take any heed of the voices from the deep. As a consequence, our lives remain all shallow and superficially boring.
Is there, after all, any beauty in our lives? We look forward to appreciating beauty in a painting. We love to be touched by the drama of an opera. We lack self-esteem and personal elegance. So we dress ourselves finely, put on costly ornaments and make-ups. We may learn to wear an untiring and impressive smile. We may learn to dress ourselves neatly. We may learn to walk elegantly, talk pleasantly and eat delicately. We may refine our manners and composure. However hard we may try to usher beauty in our lives, our days are still hectic and our minds full of noise. Beauty remains dead like the nature on the painting hanging by the wall.
Let’s not lose touch with the immensity of nature. Let’s go and make friends with the trees, with the hills and with the butterflies that fly about carelessly. Let’s listen to the sound of the torrents and the rustling leaves. Let’s soak ourselves in the rapture of the rainfall and in the thrill of the thunderstorms. Let’s go into Nature and meet the beauty that is waiting to explode inside us.Posted on: 2003-11-04 09:47
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