God is a big word!  What does God mean for you?  There are many ways to refer to God:

·         Father

·         Mother

·         Oneness

·         Allah

·         Goddess

·         Mother Earth

·         Friend

You can probably think of many other names for God.

For me, God is the divine energy that connects all of life, both animate and inanimate.

 God connects through your heart. Listen for the yearnings of your heart to discover what God is calling you to live out. Every time you respond to God, your heart will feel a little softer.

Here are 10 ways to connect to God through nature:

1.      Wonder:

Go somewhere outside and see what catches your attention. Did you see a flower growing through a crack in a sidewalk?  Maybe you are sitting on a beach and peering out into the ocean. Perhaps you are walking through an alpine meadow, and you are in awe of all the beautiful wildflowers.

Filled with awe, you experience the world in new ways! Your heart comes alive when connected to the life force shown to us through nature.

A place that once seemed so ordinary becomes extraordinary. You start to see beauty in areas you never noticed before.

Connecting with God through nature will remind you every day of the miracle of you and the world around you.

2.      Landscapes:

Where are the places you feel close to God?   I am attracted to water wherever I live. Growing up in Vancouver on the west coast of Canada, I had my favourite places, such as walking the sea wall around Stanley Park. I loved watching the sunset at Spanish Banks, seeing the sun disappear behind Bowen and Texada Islands. I could watch this for hours, filling my heart with wonder, hope and gratitude.

Every landscape has its beauty, whether it is the rugged Rocky Mountains or the open prairies of North America.

These are places that recharge our spiritual batteries.  These places inspire us to be our best and allow our creative juices to flow.

Not only do these places inspire us, but they help us to let go of our fears, anxieties, disappointments and hopelessness.

These are places where you can feel the presence of God within you and around you.  You have no dought that God is present and real.

3.      Animals:

Animals are so beautiful and diverse.  You are an animal.  Think of all the wild animals and the animals humans have domesticated.  Each animal is unique and beautiful in its own way.

While life is not always easy, animals play an essential role in the well-being of their part of the world.  When we humans interfere, the whole world suffers.

If you pay attention, you will see God in each animal. God reminds us that every animal has a right to exist, and no animal is worse or better than another species.

Connecting with God through nature helps you to see God wherever you go.

4.      Fish:

Fish are graceful, colourful, beautiful, strange, and ugly. They inhabit the sea, which is another great mystery to most of us. I see the holy is every creature of the sea.  I marvel at how they can breathe underwater. I marvel at the ecosystem they live in how when humans leave them alone, they thrive.

Want to know how to start a daily habit of talking to God? Click Here

5.      Insects:

Most of us don't like insects, but they are mysterious and marvellous. Without insects, we all would be dead.  Do you wonder why God created the mosquito?  The mosquito is food for the bat and other birds. If you look at them under a microscope, you will marvel at their beauty and strangeness. They are small but miraculous.

Insects are a vital part of nature. Connecting with God through heart reminds you that everything is connected. Everything is holy.

6.      Water:

Most of your body is water. You can not survive without water, and yet water too much water can kill you. Most sacred rituals from the great religions of the world require water.

In Christianity, water is essential for baptism. In Hinduism, water equals Ganga, described as a river flowing in heaven, earth, and netherworlds. 

Please think of the many ways we use water for cleansing, refreshment, cooking, and other things.  Water is a miracle, and we can not survive without it.

7.      Snow:

If you live in the northern or southern parts of the world, you will be familiar with snow. Each flake of snow is a miracle. Every snowflake has its design, and everyone is different. Snowflakes are like people; no one is precisely the same.

Connecting with God through nature helps us to see the design of God in each snowflake.

Want to know how to connect to God in your everyday life? Click Here

8.      Wind:

Faith is something we know to be true.  You can see and feel the results of faith.  The same is for wind. You can not see the wind, but you can feel it and see the results of it.  

Wind and the Holy Spirit are often seen as one. The Bible tells us that the wind of the Spirit blew at the Jewish festival of Pentecost. God sent the Spirit to help people to understand each other. The miracle is that everyone could understand each other despite speaking in many different languages.

Wind helps us to fly in our planes,  spread seeds, and wind clears the air of pollution. Wind can bring relief on a hot day.

The wind is an example of something greater than us. No matter how much we humans try, we can not control the wind.

9.      Trees:

You need oxygen, and you need to release carbon dioxide.  Trees are our saviours.  Trees convert carbon dioxide into oxygen,  provide safe places for birds, animals and insects to call home and protect us from the wind.

Trees provide a safe place to hold carbon so the earth can have a healthy balance between carbon dioxide and oxygen.

The roots of trees nourish the soil.  Healthy soil nurtures and feeds so many other life forms.  

Trees remind you that you need to be rooted to your source.  Every day get up and notice how the Spirit is nurturing you as a route feeds a tree.

Connecting with God through nature helps us to see the holy in each tree.

10.  Rocks:

Rocks are solid.   They are like God. Sometimes people see them as unchanging and immovable, and they perceive God the same way. Yet even rocks change over centuries.

In Christianity, Peter is called the rock. He is the chief disciple which Peter became the bedrock of the church.

Your faith becomes the bedrock of your life. It guides you in all you do. It helps you to know the difference between right and wrong.  It allows you to move through the grey of life that is neither good nor bad.

Not only do you grow closer to God, but God also grows closer to you.

Looking at the world with fresh eyes can help you see God's awe and wonder in nature.  There are miracles all around us if you pay attention. 

Stop and look at the leaf and notice the beauty of its colours, texture, design and smell. Reflect on how the tree converts the carbon dioxide into food for the leaves and produces oxygen for you and I.

If you are a mother, you got to experience the miracle of procreation.  It is miraculous how the woman's body nurtures the new life as it grows within her womb and prepares her body to feed the child after birth.

Connecting with God through nature helps you notice, feel, and sense the wonder of the world around you, and this can help you build a relationship with God.  Gradually you begin to see and experience more of God in everyday life. You start to realize that you are part of the miracle.

It is the many distractions in the world today that block you from the holy. The best thing you can do to connect to God is slow down and notice the small and big miracles that surround us and are within us.

Roland Legge can help you to build a powerful connection between your heart and God through nature.  Roland Legge is a Certified Identity Life Coach and a minister in the United Church of Canada in Yorkton, Saskatchewan.  You can join my newsletter for free advice and get your free E-book and sign up for Your 30 Minute Discovery Call at no charge