Nature is defined as “the universe; the forces or powers that animate and regulate it.” Nature to me is the cradle in which humanity rests, gently rocking day to night, season to season. Nature is our benefactor, but she can easily destroy that which man has built upon her floor.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that nature “is the incarnation of a thought, and turns to a thought again, as ice becomes water and gas. The world is mind precipitated, and the volatile essence is forever escaping again into free thought.” It is only when humanity tries to rock its own cradle that the universal connection is broken. Nature, like any loving parent, quickly disciplines the willful child and reestablishes the rhythm of the eternal clock. Humanity is constantly learning how to respect nature and to maintain a balance between what is sown and what is harvested.

“We nestle in nature, and draw our living as parasites from her roots and grains, and we receive glances from the heavenly bodies, which call us to solitude and foretell the remotest future.” Humanity will always attempt to rock its own cradle and Nature will continue to reset the clock. Our ignorance is the true evil, and only through knowledge can we begin to understand the eternal connection that binds nature and humanity to the life/death circle of affirmation.