It is a miserable, cold, grey day and water is falling from the sky relentlessly. Meanwile, Rev. Laurel Dykstra is telling me that, in scripture, there is a long tradition of people encountering God in the natural world. And while he鈥檚 right 鈥� Moses finds God in the burning bush, Elijah hears God鈥檚 voice in the gentle breeze (after an earthquake and a fire) and Jesus climbs a mountain to pray 鈥� I can鈥檛 help thinking to myself that, clearly, they did not live on the West Coast.
Yet Vancouverites do seem keen to follow this millennia-old tradition of connecting with the divine by getting into nature.
Dykstra is the priest for , a ministry of the Anglican church in 麻豆传媒映画that regularly worships outdoors and is focused on environmental education and activism. A core group of about 20 congregants regularly gathers to at Pacific Spirit Park, Rice Lake, Burnaby Mountain or Stanley Park鈥檚 Second Beach. 鈥淥f course, if it鈥檚 a miserable day, pouring rain, we might get three people,鈥� Dykstra concedes.
The unpredictability of worshiping outdoors adds to the spiritual experience. Once, while holding a prayer service on Burnaby Mountain, a pair of mating eagles landed in the tree above the congregation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the gift of the unexpected and unanticipated,鈥� says Dykstra.
鈥淲hen we are outdoors we are reminded that the miraculous is part of our everyday, we have an increased capacity for wonder and awe, and the spiritual practice of intention 鈥� being able to notice and attend to what鈥檚 around us,鈥� Dykstra explains.
Intention is a key part of having a spiritual experience in nature.
鈥淎s the mind calms and the heart opens, we feel we鈥檙e part of something bigger than ourselves.鈥�
鈥� Tom Esakin
Tom Esakin is a spiritual director at and an interfaith spiritual director with , a group of spiritual directors who accompany people of all religions on their faith journey. He points out that there is a difference between going out for a walk 鈥渂ecause I want to escape the indoors and get away from my computer and my spouse and whatever else is going on,鈥� versus going out for a walk in order to have a spiritual experience.
When one sets out on a walk for spiritual purposes 鈥測ou feel calmness and serenity, the mind comes to rest and the heart comes to peace. As the mind calms and the heart opens, we feel we鈥檙e part of something bigger than ourselves,鈥� Esakin says.
He also points out that humans have long had a spiritual connection with nature and the awareness of being part of something bigger than any individual. 鈥淕o back to the pagans, druids, celts, they were all about the sun and the equinox,鈥� he says.
However, for modern-day humans, having a spiritual connection with nature doesn鈥檛 end when the walk or the prayer service concludes.
According to Dykstra, that spiritual connection with nature helps one grow in their capacity for environmental justice and can fuel environmental activism.
鈥淵ou won鈥檛 fight to save what you don鈥檛 love and you can鈥檛 love what you don鈥檛 know. You grow in love for a place through placing your core spiritual practices in those places,鈥� Dykstra says.
The Salal + Cedar congregation often holds prayer services prior to heading out to activist events (like taking part in a that tried to slow the work of the Kinder Morgan expansion project) to offer a space for people who want their environmental action to be rooted in their faith.
The community also seeks out opportunities to educate themselves about the environment and gets involved in conservation work. Salal + Cedar recently received a grant to work with a church group that has a property with a creek running through it in order to do habitat restoration.
For Esakin, having a spiritual connection with nature does not just influence how he relates to the environment. 鈥淚f I see the divine in everything, then I will try to treat everything with love and respect. It is easier to be kinder to someone if I see the Christ/Krishna/Buddha essence in them rather than seeing the homeless person who makes a mess every night.鈥�
Both Dysktra and Esakin agree there isn鈥檛 one specific place where a person can go and automatically feel a connection to the divine, and perfectly manicured spaces have a different feel that may interfere with experiencing the wonder and awe of the natural world. And, for the Salal + Cedar congregation, it is important to also pray in places that are polluted and damaged.
What is important, according to Esakin, is to simply get out into nature with the express intent of being in nature. 鈥淚n most traditions the heart is a very important symbol, so one could be of any tradition, be in nature put their intention in their heart and as they鈥檙e walking through trails, and look to see the whole and use that as the practice.鈥�
鈥� meets on the first Saturday of every month for outdoor worship. offers free outdoor yoga classes during the summer months.听
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