FORSYTH, MONROE COUNTY, GA. 31029
December 8, 1999
BY PAUL JUDD
Niki Collins-Queen loves going to church. Fortunately for this Monroe County resident, her church is located near her home, in her backyard. Actually, this house of worship is her backyard.
In Earth, The Forgotten Temple, Queen shares her experiences in the "Church of the Great Out-doors," beginning with a mountain-top transformation that pointed her to seek God in nature. The author begins her book with a solitary trip into the mountains in the early 1980s. Her plea for God to make His existence known was answered as a presence of intense love in the form of dazzling white light that came upon her.
"There was no doubt in my mind," she wrote. "I had experienced the presence of God, a God that was not a big daddy in the sky but a loving energy permeating everything." Like a wide-eyed child, the world to Collins-Queen became new and fresh. She began to see God in the rivers, trees, plants, and animals. People who once looked at her with indifference now looked with fondness, not because they had changed, but because deeper levels of love were now flowing through her.
To understand her experience and why she had not met others who had found God in nature, she began studying everything she could find on religion and spirituality: Christianity, Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. However, it was the spirituality of Native Americans, which talks about the Great Spirit that moves through all things, that made her realize she was not alone.
Collins-Queen, a Licensed Professional Counselor, gave up a successful career to pursue her connection with God in nature.
She hitchhiked on sailboats in the Bahamas, backpacked alone, and canoed in the Everglades and on the Suwannee River. Her experiences gave her a greater understanding of God and of her purpose on Earth. They also empowered her to overcome fear and take more risks. "I still feel the fear," she said, "but my faith is strengthened knowing I'm part of something greater."
Queen describes her book as a voice for the Earth. In a society that tends to stay inside more, she wants people to know of the incredible healing power in nature. She believes that God is not "out there" some where, but in the soil, in the trees, and in ourselves.
She realizes her beliefs may conflict with most conservative middle Georgians. However, this wife of a southern Baptist and avid hunter wants people to understand she is in no way discrediting conventional religion. "The Church is sacred but people need to be aware of other places to meet God," she said.
Collins-Queen said she is not out to change people's opinions, nor does she believe her path is for everyone. Her objective is simply to share experiences and hopefully in the process convey to others the power she has found in nature.
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