Examples Of Spirituality In John Muir

Natural Spirituality

“We all travel the milky way together, trees and men, but it never occurred to me until this day that trees are travelers, in the ordinary sense.” – John Muir

When you hear the word spirituality, what is the first thing that comes to mind, is it churches, cathedrals, or God; why not nature? To John Muir, a botanist, environmental activist, and author, nature is one of the most pure forms of spirituality you can have; much greater than sitting in a church. All things in nature, the trees, the water, the animals, it’s all alive and teeming with spirituality yet to be discovered. To tap into that spirituality, and become one with nature, the first place to look is in the forest.

If you’ve ever seen a map of the Upper Peninsula

of Michigan, you would most likely see that it’s roughly 70 percent untouched nature, 10 percent farmland, and 20 percent civilization or campgrounds. Due to nature being untouched, it allows the UP to be one of the most pristine and beautiful places know today. In the proximity of roughly 50 miles from my house, there has to be about three or four towns, some not even classified as a town, but a village. That leaves a lot of land untouched, allowing for the lakes, rivers, trees, and animals to live in nirvana. This sense of nirvana allows the spirits in nature to flow freely without any constrictions. One of the greatest examples of natural beauty, that’s been untouched by human contact is Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Albeit, there is a bit of contact, all of this park is left as natural as possible. No matter where you are in the UP, there’s a great chance you’re in a national forest, which presents a chance to encounter the spirits of nature. Much of the preservation of natural forests, habitats, and landforms wouldn’t be around today if it wasn’t for John Muir, and his ability to see the spirits of nature clear as day.
As mentioned in the first paragraph, John Muir was a botanist, environmental activist, and author; highly respected in all fields.

He is referred to as “The Father of our National Parks” as a result of his tenacity in the effort to preserve natural landmarks. (Now, Muir wasn’t a little geeky man who sat and wrote and hugged trees (except for when he sat through a windstorm in a tree, I’m sure he was literally hugging trees then), he was a very adventurous man and laughed in the face of danger. The most interesting thing about Muir though was, the fact that in the apex of a gale force windstorm or in the blustery force of a winter storm, he was able to connect deeply with the natural spirits in the area. In his story Stickeen, Muir is on an expedition to Alaska to explore a region known today as Glacier Bay. As Muir was planning a trip to explore a glacier the next day, he noticed a storm coming in, skipping breakfast, he said, “I heard the storm and looked out I made haste to join it; for many of Nature's finest lessons are to be found in her storms, and if careful to keep in right relations with them, we may go safely abroad with them, rejoicing in the grandeur and beauty of their works and ways” (Muir, Stickeen) Muir notes that if you respect the spirits at work, they will grant you safe passage. I couldn’t agree anymore. In another one of his famous works, Muir decides it’s a bright idea to climb into a tree prior to a wind storm and document how conflicts between the

natural spirits work. ‘But when the storm began to sound, I lost no time in pushing out into the woods to enjoy it. For on such occasions Nature has always something rare to show us.”(Muir, A Wind-Storm in the Forests) Again, Muir is referencing the impressive force of two natural spirits colliding.
One thing I remember most about growing up is the time I spent in the woods; I never got to experience nature how Muir did, but I had my moments of connection with the spirits, as he had many times. I remember three distinctive moments when I felt connected with nature; one as a child, and the other two most recently. As a child, I lived in a house with a huge hill behind it that you couldn’t see over, and seemed to continue on for eternity. I was told not to play on it, which made me only want to that much more. The day I finally decided to see what was on the other side, I learned that nature truly is a spectacular being. As I climbed over the top of the hill, the view was breathtaking, water as far as the eye could see. The sounds of the wind blowing and the water splashing meshed together into a feeling of closeness and spirituality. I had felt that same feeling again, much later in my life, when I first stepped into the woods behind my current home. It was a beautiful day, the sun was out, there was a slight breeze, and it wasn’t unbearably hot so the animals were out scavenging for food while it was nice. As I crossed the threshold from reality to spirituality, everything seemed to stop. I stood there for a moment, chills up and down my spine, inhaling deeply the deep earthy scents of nature. I closed my eyes and just stood there, feeling as if I was one of the trees, limbs blowing lightly in the breeze, or the ground soaking up the warmth of the basking sunlight. At each of these moments of transcendence with nature, I knew there had to be more to nature than what my eyes could see. It takes opening up your spirit, allowing the spirit of the trees and wind to mesh with yours, to create the feelings I felt on those days.
To many, the classical idea of spirituality involve a church or cathedral, not me.

I was never a big church goer, most times I dreaded it, I mean, who wants to wake up at 8:00AM or 9:00AM and go sit in a building listening to someone talk for what seemed like hours? That wasn’t how I planned on spending my weekends. I thought I was more deeply connected, spiritually, when I was out in the trees. Something about the natural state of something, untouched by any hand beside God’s, to me is far more meaningful than sitting in a brick-and-mortar church or cathedral. After all, it was God who created the natural world according to the first book of

Genesis.
From the Appalachian Mountains to the arid deserts of Arizona, there is proof in nature of spirits that cannot be encountered anywhere else. For some, it may take a lifetime to even get a chance to feel that and, because of that, may never truly believe in the idea of spirituality in nature. When I had my epiphanies in nature, I learned that we are such a small part of this world and that we do truly live only one life. I feel to fully fulfill your life, you must go out and experience the tranquility and power of the spirits in nature. John Muir said, “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” Go experience that feeling, you never know, it might even change your life.