Of Earth and Sky: Spiritual Lessons From Nature

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All things with which we deal, preach to us.

What is a farm but a mute gospel?

The chaff and the wheat, weeds and plants, blight, rain, insects, sun—

it is a sacred emblem from the first furrow of spring to the last stack

which the snow of winter overtakes in the fields.

But the sailor, the shepherd, the miner, the merchant, in their several resorts,

have each an experience precisely parallel, and leading to the same conclusion:

because all organizatins are radically alike.

Nor can it be doubted that this moral sentiment

which thus scents the air, grows in the grain, and impregnates the wathers of the world,

is caught by man and sinks into his soul.

The moral influence of nature upon every individual is

that amount of truth which it illustrates to him.

Who can estimate this?

Who can guess how much firmness the sea-beaten rock has taught the fisherman?

how much tranquillity has been reflected to man from the azure sky,

over whose unspotted deeps the winds forevermore drive flocks of stormy clouds,

and have no wrinkle or stain?

how much industry and providence and affection

we have caught from the pantomine of brutes?

 

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

 

 

Whether it's the fragrance of a flower or the grandeur of

the mountains, nature inspires great writing.

Of Earth and Sky, is an anthology of poetry

and prose from more than 30 of the finest classic

and contemporary writers including Ray Bradbury,

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Lao Tzu, and Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

The literary selections illustrate the seven virtures of prudence,

fortitude, temperance, justice, faith, hope

and charity as they are embodied in nature.

 

 

 

Illustrating Thomas Aquinas's list of seven virtues as they are taught by nature,

Becknell gathers classic and contemporary wisdom on prudence,

fortitude, temperance, justice, faith, hope, and charity;

and invites you to consider God's creation and practice its lessons.

Includes thought-and-action questions for each character trait.