The World Turning Gold

About four in the afternoon on October 25, 2018, when I look through the window over my desktop, the world is turning gold. The alchemy of autumn.

unedited photo in "landscape"

The image shown above does not, of course, show exactly what I beheld, but neither does the one represented in the unedited “landscape” setting on the camera.

         A representation that is closer to the vision revealed might be forced in a slightly edited version of this second image—but I’m not showing that because a few moments later, sunlight drizzled the woodland forcing a third or fourth viewpoint to be considered.

unedited image taken in “aperture priority”

         If we’re looking for the Truth through our encounters with nature, our journey might lead into works such as S.H. Nasr’s Religion and the Order of Nature. Progressing slowly in order to absorb the rich material, I’m now about halfway into the book. Nasr details and interprets the modern framing of our world as it

“moved away from the almost universally held view of the sacredness of nature to one that sees man as alienated from nature and nature itself as no longer the progenitor of life (the very root of nature being from the Latin nascitura, meaning to give birth), but rather as a lifeless mass, a machine to be dominated and manipulated by a purely earthly man. It also divorced, in a manner not to be seen in any other civilization, the laws of nature from moral laws and human ethics from the workings of the cosmos” (p. 4).

Nasr’s opening paragraph asserts quite explicitly his concern for human destruction of the environment: 

“The world of nature is being desecrated and destroyed in an unprecedented manner globally by both those who have secularized the world about them and developed a science and technology capable of destroying nature on an unimaginable scale and by those who still live within a religious universe… (p. 3).

         In the 4.5 acres that my wife and I tend, we’re able to participate in eco-friendly stewardship, and through this our lives continue to be blessed both physically and spiritually. But a related and somewhat different focus seems to take a higher priority for me. My intended direction, especially in this late stage of life, focuses on capital T Truth which I find turned a different way from the one quite well known from the academic career.  Now retired, I seek devotion to Truth, and this requires a kind of knowing that differs from the truth needed to publish in academic journals, including those of the “arts and humanities” as well as those of “mathematical and scientific disciplines.” Academic truth has its role and importance. I don’t intend disrespect for that work; it’s just that I find it necessary to demand, for myself at least, a distinctly different take on truth.

         For one thing, this different track requires a tolerance for imprecision. Language for this Truth always falls frustratingly short, often calls for teasing paradoxes, and even lapses into significant silences. Yet words have been put to the pathway that sound right enough, although they must be handled with considerable care. A few titles gleaned from my bookshelves illustrate: Knowledge of God, The Book of the Lover and the Beloved, and The Secret of the Love of God. 

         As suggested by these titles, movement along this pathway finds guidance from dynamic interactions, especially among Truth, Beauty, and Love. Each person engages these qualities in accordance with his or her God-given nature. My personal walking gets animated by looking into nature and playing with representations in an artistic and alchemical way, with consideration for realism but also letting the magical possibilities come through. To do this, I believe I must see and engage nature more in line with Nasr's radical direction away from the modern view. This, perhaps, opens more of the “imaginal” world (using Ibn Arabi and Henry Corbin’s terms) and allows for a closer walking with the beloved. I’m looking forward to the delight of wondering with photos taken during our week in Australia because the rain forest captivated me with my full consent toward an imaginal world. For this moment, a glimpse might come through a playful look in today’s window.