Temples of Nature

"No temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite... The grandest of all special temples of Nature."

- John Muir

I've been watching through my Netflix subscription the PBS series about the National Parks. If you haven't seen it, I want to highly recommend it to you. It is marvelous. Of course, anything by director Ken Burns is great. This series is absolutely amazing. Please know that I don't make this recommendation lightly.This recommendation comes to you from a real "indoor boy" who once suggested that the rangers of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park might want to think about pressure washing the moss off the trees in the park to "spruce the place up a bit."

I thought this documentary series was going to be more like a Travel Channel special that shows pretty pictures of the National Parks; however, this series is so much more than that. It's about the development and history of how the National Parks came to be in America. It's also about the struggle between those who would exploit our county's natural resources for personal gain and those who risked much to establish parks so that all Americans could enjoy them.

I love the biographical stories of those who rallied people to protect these lands from development.

The person I was most amazed by was John Muir. I really didn't know that much about this amazing man. I have visited Muir Woods in California and marveled at the mighty Redwoods, but I really didn't know who Muir was. I learned through this documentary series that he was way ahead of his time when it came to protecting our natural resources. He lobbied and badgered and lectured to anyone who would listen and to a lot of people who didn't want to listen. He helped found the Sierra Club, wrote books about conservation, camped with President Theodore Roosevelt, and in many ways single-handedly was responsible for saving Yosemite Valley from development and destruction.

Raised as the son of a strict Christian father who believed that anything that distracted from Bible studies was frivolous. By the time he was eleven years old, he had memorized the entire New Testament and most of the Old Testament. In in later writings, Muir expressed his belief that God was always active in the creation of life and thereby kept the natural order of the world. As a result, Muir styled himself as a John the Baptist whose duty was to immerse in 'mountain baptism' everyone he could. Muir saw nature as a great teacher, "revealing the mind of God."
While some might get the impression that Muir reverted back to some kind of nature worship or new age philosophy, I don't really think this is the case at all. Some of his writings taken out of context might lead some to conclude this, but after watching the documentary, I really saw Muir as echoing the Scriptures that he knew so well in what he wrote, said, and tried to live out. Just as the Psalmist wrote:

Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.

Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.
Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.
He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.
Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,
you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth,
young men and maidens, old men and children.
Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

- Psalm 148:3-14, NIV

For me, Muir is a man who was way ahead of his time. He spoke truth to power and made a difference with his life. He was a man of deep and abiding faith. He was an amazing man whom I would have liked to have walked with through the forests and valleys that he so loved. I'm so grateful I got to journey with him for a short while through this documentary.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!