Nature is the great teacher, the book of life to be read and understood. That's why it is important not just to protect the natural world, but to guide it to the highest level of perfection. Our task as spiritual people is to foster an intimate bond between the world of nature--rivers, mountains, oceans, animals, forests--and our own felt nature. When one is thriving, the other will find needed support.
The true source of joy is love—love of God, love of beauty, love of wisdom, love of
another human being, it does not matter which. It is all one love: a joyful awareness of dissolving boundaries of our ordinary
narrow self, of being one with reality
beyond, of being made whole.
~ from The Door to Joy by Irma Lalecki in "Heron Dance"