The Roses Must Remain

If there is a voice in Nature, it is its emphatic presence that stands (when it is allowed to stand) in disregard to the miseries we inflict upon each other and ourselves, and amidst the human chaos that we cannot control. I was sitting on my front stoop a few days ago and watched a bee gently gliding from one white clover flower to the next. From down the hill I heard a passing siren for an ambulance, and the peaceful scene continued. I thought about how many trillions of times this scene has been re-enacted, the plant and the insect in harmonious relationship. It has happened through all our wars, privations, oppressive regimes, plagues and personal tragedies. Nature remains in so many ways an imperturbable expression of beauty. What a valuable thing for someone who is depressed or distressed who can open their heart and mind to the beauty of a scene directed by the painterly wings of a butterfly or the rolling gait of a woodchuck or the graceful careening of a hawk's flight. Then consider it all banished, paved away, and the person walking alone in their misery does not have this happily accidental form of access to Nature's constancy. A profound form of subtle consolation has been taken away, and the person in misery loses a valuable spiritual perspective and a living embodiment of sturdy hope in the face of life's madness. There is a reason that is not maudlin or small-minded behind the old expression, "take time to stop and smell the roses". Humankind can create wonderful realities for itself, but it can also create artificial hells. Immersion in the creations of humankind, however beautiful or comforting, cannot elude the hard knocks of life. That is why the roses must remain -- for the sake of Nature (of which we are only a small part) and for the healing of ourselves. The persistent and consistent beauty of Nature in its forms and movements is also the root inspiration of all perdurable art. When art only derives from itself, its ability to enrich the soul grows paler and paler. The luster of Nature never fades, but vigorously renews.