The healing effects of nature

I lean back, eyes closed, the warmth of the sun penetrating even as fresh ocean zephyrs tickle my skin. The knock-knock-knock of a woodpecker punctuates the rustle of leaves; I hear the surround-sound of a hummingbird buzz from left to right and the insistent ‘caw’ of peacocks lumbering through the brush. The pounding of my headache lessens; my fluttering heart calms its’ worrying rhythm. For the first time in days my body begins to feel at peace.

I go for a walk. Derrick the dog leads– although lazily, in the midday sun - while Sally the cat follows several yards behind, squeaking out her meows as if to complain, ‘Wait for me!’

The road is hedged thick with greenery adorned with pale violet blooms and pumpkin-colored bougainvillea. Mustard carpets the hillsides and blends with the monochromatic chaparral. The braying of donkeys is carried in the cool breeze. At my feet, corpulent succulents bear tiny fuchsia flowers and hum with bees. All around are signs of life!

“The Lord is my shepherd … he makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters …” Interesting how in Psalm 23 David evokes a pastoral scene of nature, calming his fears. Not the 101/405 freeway interchange, or a skyscraper in Manhattan, but the cool verdant splendor of earth. And today, in this setting, with the panoramic backdrop of the bluest sea, I feel as if I can walk forever.

God built this world to us, and for us, Genesis tells: gathering the dry land from the seas; bringing forth grass and fruit trees, “and God saw that it was good.” It is both the food that nourishes us and the medicine for what ails us. I bask in this comfort.

“The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” (Isaiah 58:11)