PUBLIC SQUARE
55
Striding out across the local countryside was the unexpected bonus of my Covid-19 lockdown .
After refreshing our mapreading skills and stress-testing our wet weather gear , my wife and I surprised ourselves by clocking up more than 100 miles a month last spring and summer . I saw more of middle England than I had in the previous 20 years .
I ’ m not alone . According to the Ramblers Association , over one in five of us walk for recreation in any four week period . That ’ s more than twice the next most popular form of exercise , swimming .
Along with the many walkers , ramblers and hardy hikers fanning out over Britain , I ’ ve enjoyed getting up close and personal with creation . It ’ s restored my soul as I ’ ve been led by still waters and in places where sheep safely graze .
When we escape to the country , we feel the stress draining away , problems and pandemics are less overwhelming , and our thoughts turn to the transcendent .
For believers and unbelievers alike , why does the countryside lift our spirits so much ? Surely it is the perspective that something bigger than ourselves is at work and that creation reveals a pattern of order , structure and rhythm .
Philosopher and teacher Dallas Willard made the connection when he explained that getting closer to nature helps us get closer to God . He pointed out that most of the time the natural order is doing exactly what it ’ s supposed to do . Birds fly south for winter , trees burst into bud at the right time , and new birth comes around in its due season .
Holiness , said Willard , is the ability to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done . So when the maestro plays the right notes , at the right time and in the right way , we call it divine . We ’ re talking about holiness and we are instinctively drawn towards it .
Whether it ’ s our faithful family dog that looks up at us with affectionate eyes , or the spring lambs that bounce around the lush green fields , they are simply doing what they were created to do . And we love it .
Dallas would challenge anyone to look at a flower , to really look at it hard , and eventually not to smile . We don ’ t need to recognise the creator to appreciate the creation .
Since the late Middle Ages , theologians have used the term Book of Nature as a metaphorical description of God ’ s revelation outside the Bible . Creation is , as we know , God ’ s ‘ other ’ book . The heavens are telling the glory of God and many of us simply want to head for the hills and experience it for ourselves .
But there ’ s a danger lurking in how we see the open pastures and landscaped beauty spots . Let ’ s start with the price tag . Property prices in the most popular parts of Britain rocketed during the pandemic in what ’ s been called the ‘ green-space race ’. People view the city as a place of peril and its bustling streets , quite rightly , fell silent at the height of the lockdown .
All this is fine for the people who can get away , but what about the people who cannot ? Some talk about a stunning view as a ‘ thin place ’ where heaven and earth meet and God is more tangible . I know the feeling . But what does this say about the disadvantaged and the economically poor if we demonise the urban sprawl and elevate the countryside as being somehow closer to God ?
All those scenic photos on Facebook can serve to make others feel excluded and second class . Seeing rural life as good and city life as bad has some worrying unintentional consequences .
Many people don ’ t have the chance to up sticks and move away from the greater risk of infection . The poor and the vulnerable are left in crowded accommodation and in unhealthy work environments while the more wealthy can afford to relocate .
We know that BAME people ( Black , Asian , Minority Ethnic ) have been at greater risk of the virus than the majority white population . So we should be cautious about wrapping up our lifestyle choices in pseudo-spiritual terms that , even unintentionally , gives God a postcode somewhere in the Cotswolds .
For some followers of Christ , the deeper soul challenge is to pursue a life with God right in the middle of the concrete jungle , and to show that , in lived reality , he is closer than we think . Keep in mind that the vision of Revelation is more of a ‘ holy city coming down out of heaven from God ’ rather than the romanticised ‘ green and pleasant land ’ depicted by William Blake and burnished into the English psyche by Sir Hubert Parry ’ s patriotic hymn .
Creation and the creator can be found in the most unlikely places , all the way from the local park to the city art gallery . A missionary friend to London takes his reflection and retreat days at the Barbican theatre with its soaring ceilings and everchanging art installations . Creation , as he has discovered , comes in all shapes and sizes and even where we least expect it .
So in our preaching and teaching , let ’ s not inadvertently use our soul search for God in ways that limit the God of surprises , or exclude our brothers and sisters who have few opportunities to enjoy the countryside . Creation is all around us . Just take a few minutes and really look at a flower .
James Catford
James Catford is Chair of the US renewal ministry Renovaré and the UK publisher SPCK . Email him at james @ catfords . com