“You bathe in these spirit-beams, turning round and round, as if warming at a camp-fire. Presently you lose consciousness of your own separate existence: you blend with the landscape, and become part and parcel of nature.”
― John Muir, Wilderness Essays
Have you ever taken time to wonder if you are becoming more like the people you spend the most time with? It’s an interesting thought. Maybe the phrase, “you’re/I’m a different person when you’re/I’m with them” is something you’ve been told or thought to yourself. It can be positive or negative, depending on the people and in what ways they influence you.
Our physical environment has a similar effect. Imagine a busy mall, a packed subway train, or perhaps an office—each of these likely brought a particular set of stereotypes and feelings as you conjured the environment of each to your mind. Stress? Excitement? Anxiety? Happiness? What were the feelings or emotions that came to you? What if you think of a yoga studio, the beach, or a winding mountain path with tall evergreens on either side—a gentle breeze rustling their boughs like a whisper of an ancient wisdom? Which of these sets brings you a feeling of calm (there’s no wrong answer)? Muir seems to believe that there is something special about nature that we as creatures need, and that when we spend time outside we become, or re-come, a part of nature itself. It gets in us, becomes a part us and we a part of it. And we carry that connection even when we leave.
When we spend time outside we become, or re-come, a part of nature itself.
This week in our parshah, Moses is reported as spending a lot of time with G-d, while on the mountain of Sinai. He becomes “a part of the landscape,” being placed in a crevice in the rock so that he might live as the Divine Presence passes by.
When we, like Moses, seek HaShem in nature and take time to “lose consciousness of [our] own separate existence,” we connect with nature as the creation, which allows us in turn to connect with the Creator.
What traits of G-d might rub off on us when we spend time in nature? Moses leaves the mountain with his face radiant with reflected Divine glory. While we may not ascend to such a great height of connection, maybe we can gain a sense of calm, a peacefulness that comes with remembering that we are a part of nature and it is a part of us.