12/5/2013
“The earth is the human body writ large.” Mountains and
rocks make up its backbone and flesh, water the blood running through its
veins, trees and grass its hair, and clouds the breath of its inner life.
Touching the earth, therefore, becomes a way of entering more fully the deeper
mystery of ourselves and God-as if some vast correspondence linked our being to
the mountain’s distant silhouette. (Lane, 96)
Genius loci- a subtle, magnetic or
vital influence inherent in every specific locality”- the spirit of the place.
In the chapter of Landscapes of the Sacred titled The
Mountain that was God, Lane discusses Mount Reiner and the genius loci of the
place. In considering the fact that man has an a subtle, yet intimate
connection with nature, would it be viable to assume the fact that man was
created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27) also applies to the other creation in the
world. The spiritual connection that man has with God through nature could also
be correlated with the likeness between the creation of man and the creation of
nature. Although each human is distinctly different in many ways and nature is
incredibly diverse, everything has the common thread of the one maker. It is like
a collection of paintings done by the same artist; each painting has unique
style and there is none that is an exact replica of another, they may even be
executed with different mediums, but each piece is still of the same creative
mind. The communication that takes place between man and the Divine through
nature exists because of the common thread of a shared creator.
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