Mom: "This Is My Church"
1:00 PM Sunday. I've taken my mom to the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center two Sunday mornings in a row. This week we were planning to go for a walk in Washington Park on Monday for her 82nd birthday, but there is a high likelihood of rain all Monday morning, so we bumped our outing up by a day, had breakfast at the Iron Gate on Washington Avenue, and then headed out to Five Rivers for an extended nature walk. We talked about many things during our relaxed ramble together, including the universal human perception of "God" in the awesome majesty of nature. My mom, one of two percent of Republicans who are atheist, is not ready to call the object of her reverence more than a mysterious "something," let alone call it the Hashem of the Torah or the Jesus of the Nicene Creed. I am not trying to force her or even gently persuade her to see it otherwise. "This is my church," she said as we took in the sights, sounds, and smells of the heavenly October scenery. "For anyone who cares about whether or not I am attending," she added wryly.
Last week we saw a bobcat on the trail - at least I am fairly sure that is what it was - and this week we saw quite a lot more Black-capped Chickadees than usual. The chickadees are not migratory, but our observations could well be related to a seasonal irruption from eastern Canada:
My mom and I also talked a bit about indigenous northwest European land stewardship practices, and how these might intersect with indigenous American approaches. After returning home, I deepened this reflection with another Google Gemini deep dive:
Now I am wondering if I should return to the Torah portions during my religious reading this week or give some attention to the Heliand instead.
End 5:01 PM.
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