Title: Nature and Religion
Contents
In summer, we often go to the mountains and the sea to escape the heat for a while. Especially for city dwellers, the opportunity to come in contact with nature, that is, the mountains and the sea, is not a rare opportunity. Human beings are also children of nature.
From primitive hunting societies to agricultural societies, humans grew up in nature and developed through nature. Not only that, we created culture and developed life through nature. Furthermore, humans learned philosophy through nature, came to know the Creator, and experienced religious life there. With the development of today's modern artificial machine civilization, humans are separated from nature, and therefore, what used to be a son of nature became a son of a machine. This fact was already felt seriously by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 ~ 1778), who was born as the son of a watchmaker on the shores of a calm lake in Geneva, Switzerland in the 19th century and became popular in Parisian literature and thought. . Even if he goes to a brutal city full of metallic ear piercing sounds, conspiracy tricks, conspiracies, conspiracies and treason, he becomes a world-famous celebrity, a writer, and a thinker. He could not find his beautiful self again, in those days when he was living looking at Mont Blanc with his hair stretched out above the clouds, as beautiful as his humanity.
We go to the mountains in midsummer and go to the sea, not just to escape the heat. We hope to find nature and hear the mysteries of nature, the lessons of life, and even the voice of God.
The author of the psalm we read today is a person who heard God's voice in nature. The poet saw the glory of God through nature. The voice of God heard in the infinite silence is the voice that can be heard all over the earth and to the ends of the world. When we go to the mountains, there is the voice of the mountain, and when we go to the sea, there is the voice of the sea. When the morning sun rises in the east, it tells of the beginning of a new life there, and when the evening sun sets in the west, you hear indescribable great lessons in life. Sitting on a hillside on a beach under the deep blue sky, seeing a sailboat hurried to its desperate return to port on a sea raging with a raging wind, makes you think of human life and unpredictable fate even there. The song heard from the infinitely wide plain is the pioneer's cry to reach out to infinity, and the high and low mountains speak of the three-dimensional depth and curves of life embroidered with wisdom and mystery. Oh, the mysteries and wonders of this cosmic nature are not just one large object, but the glory of the Creator, and the voice of God flowing in the silence of God is embroidered in every detail.
The psalmist now finally concludes, "Who can understand his transgression? Deliver me from my hidden transgression, and do not let your servant sin willfully, that it may not have dominion over me. I will escape from you” (Psalm 19:12-13). Oh, this poet quietly studied the glory of God in nature, the voice of God heard in silence, the law of God engraved in his heart, and his words. Unable to hide the hidden faults exposed, tears are shed and a prayer of repentance is offered.
In the midst of the struggles of life in the bustling city life, I silently sit face to face with God in this nature for the countless faults and sins I have made without my knowledge and ask for an apology with tears of penance. As we wash our feet in the cold water flowing down from the mountain valley, we shed tears of repentance, wanting to wash away our sins and transgressions. We want to get rid of the stains of transgressions and sins in our hearts by washing our bodies in the cool sea water. And I want to start a new life again with a renewed heart. Apart from nature, human beings cannot find themselves right away, and without the word of God, they cannot realize and wash away the faults and sins of the unspeakable world.
We hope that, together with this poet, the prayer, “O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before you” as the starting signal for the beginning of a new life.