I’ve always wanted to live in a rural setting, but up to this point I haven’t made it happen. I grew up in the big city, moved to a small town and now live in an urban setting once again.
I realize that wherever you live there are advantages and disadvantages; I’m better at dealing with urban disadvantages than rural ones… but there’s something about a rural setting that has a pull on me.
Maybe it’s just the novelty of it when I visit, but it seems like you can be closer to God in the country. The air is pure, nature is all around and you can hear the birds and crickets instead of trucks, sirens, horns and people shouting. Yet, there is really more to it, I think. When God created man, He put the man into a garden and the man had the job of tending the garden for God. In the country, man and God are working together again to craft nature for a life-sustaining purpose; maybe that’s it.
Or, maybe that’s just my imagination getting the best of me!
In any event, I like to visit the countryside, to have my ears ringing because of the absence of noise and to breathe in clear air. It has the effect of renewal for me, and it gives me a chance to hear that still small voice that tells me I’m in good hands and within loving arms that never grow tired.
Thank you Lord for times spent in pastoral settings…
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I moved here 46 years ago when it was rural and it became urban all around me – I feel like I’ll have to move just once more before I die!! It’s great having stores close by – but enough is enough!!
I can imagine!
So true!
I love a country setting because you can really see the majesty of God’s glory in the nighttime sky. So quiet, so amazing. So creative is our God!
Yes indeed.
I live in the country.
And your thoughts about the country are so on point. Can’t leave this place!
I can only imagine 🙂
I think we’ll always long for the garden until the Lord restores us to what He’s meant us to be all along–in heaven. Thanks for this, Don.
I may be crazy, but somehow I suspect that heaven will be a lot like a garden 🙂
I think the natural setting is embedded into us just like you stated. I mean God did tell man:
And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. —Genesis 1:28 ASV
He also stated:
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. —Isaiah 55:11
Thus God still wants his plan to be fulfilled and we humans might have a natural gravitation to nature (except some people today who just absolutely hate the outdoors). Great post by the way👍
Thank you Greg, and well stated!
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
I agree, Don. I think that’s why I like sitting on my deck so early in the morning (6-7am), before the noise and rush of the city begins. Easier to hear “that still small voice,” easier to hear His love song in the trill of the birds.
Yes, exactly!
so true in all sense…vw
I don’t think it’s your imagination. My guess is that you see God more clearly through nature. Naturalist may be one of your sacred pathways. I have a summary of the book Sacred Pathways on my site: https://gracelead.co
Thanks for the tip!
Thank you. You write well.
Thank you
“The air is pure…” Well, experience tells me that if you worked closely with pigs or sheep you might modify your perception of this idea somewhat! That is, however, a minor inconvenience when considering the fulfillment of working with animals in general.
Dennis, people from LA do not work with sheep or pigs! 🙂
Maybe I misunderstood your reference to “rural setting” with the photo of a barn?
Don’t tell anybody, but that’s Steve Dudzik’s neighbor’s barn where a farm used to be taken from a busy street in the city!