You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.

[Excerpted from “Just Be” by Jaimee Phipps, May 2013 Herald, p. 33]

I have felt ashamed and hypocritical lately. I write, urging others to get out and enjoy nature, to enhance their connection to nature and God. Yet while I hike and play in streams each workday, I find that on my days off I am meeting friends for lunch, reading, or sitting at a coffeehouse. Despite my guilt, I couldn’t help but feel my heart bursting with love and my soul warmed and nourished on these days.

Today I passed a woman sitting next to the river, reading. While she could have chosen to read anywhere, she decided to read in that particular place. It occurred to me that enjoying nature does not mean performing some aerobic activity.

While I sat in a Starbucks pavilion, I was enjoying nature—just in a different way. I sat in the breeze, feeling the sunshine on my cheeks and shoulders. The smell of fall and bonfires permeated the air. I savored the taste of the fall harvest of spices and vegetables in my tea and pumpkin bread. I even found myself, while not an avid birder, searching for the name of the finch that politely waited to help clean up anything that should fall from my plate.

God fills the world with diversity. Even the changing seasons give us a sense of rejuvenation, so why should our downtime be any different? As naturalist and author John Muir said:

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

God gave us everything we need to heal ourselves in nature. It is up to us to choose now to use it.

Just be, in nature.

Prayer Phrase

“In his hand is the life of every living thing” (Job 12:10).

Trees

Watch the trees outside your window for a few moments. Close your eyes and meditate on Alma’s words about seeds and trees. If you were to plant and grow the Word of God in your heart, what tree might symbolically represent this process? Imagine a seed as it grows into a tree of life and blessing. Ask God to show you how to begin (see Alma 16:152–173).

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.