emerson and divinity

so i'm taking this american lit class at school... it's going a lot better than i expected. i'm more into it than i thought i would be. i guess because i love good writing and language... it's really interesting to see how literature evolved into what it is today. and i've established that i want to do do something with language so keeping that in the back of my mind when i read is really helpful. it's making me look more at the rhetoric and helps me make connections to the author's contemporarys and to the external influences that affect writing (i.e. Mary Rowlandson ---really into Puritanical influences---relating her captivity as a test from God for not being as devout as she should be). and i guess i see some of that in my own writing... not even topically but word choice and stylistically.

we're just getting into the trancidentalists now. personally, i love the trancidentalists...especially emerson, peabody and thoreau. just their sheer audacity in questioning the church and what defines divinity. i think this especially works for me, for where i am right now, because even though i've been questioning my faith and the validity of organized religions for some time now, im just starting to piece together my definition of what constitutes the divine.

anyways...for today we read emerson's "nature". if you're not familliar with emerson's style he's kind of a pain to get through but trust me, it's always worth it. being a panthiest, emerson feels the divine is present in everything...but at the root of all divinity is nature.

"nature never wears a mean appearance." nature is the only thing that can be taken at face value...and even that isnt always true. emerson feels that nature is eternally happy and is not subject to distruction in any form. i like this idea...of nature's constant state of joy. it, in a weird way, gives me hope that there is still some form of pure happiness alive in the world.

i guess the main theme of "nature" is emerson's beleif that if you experiance nature firsthand...just by sitting outside and taking in what your sences feel, you learn all the secrets of life. my professer made the connection to fractals in math (to a class mostly composed of english majors or minors!)...how everything is organized the same as a the larger picture. emerson says, "each particle is a microcosm, and faithfully renders the likeness of the world." even though i dont know if i believe that, i like the idea. kind of how everything in life is circular...ashes to ashes...dust to dust.

i think nature to me is more contemplative. there's this spot up in the watchung mountains where i used to horseback ride. i haven't ridden there in a while but when i'm home and it's nice i try to get up there. when the sun hits the trees and filters down to the lillypads and gently kisses the pond...it's so beautiful...sometimes i think that if there is some sort of higher power, this could be evidence of it.

or just the wind today, carrying green-grey clouds and invading the pristine blue sky...watching the clouds tumble in, saying "ani po!" (loosely translates to "i'm here!" for non-hebrew speakers). just looking at the sky for a bit earlier, i felt this sense of...peace.

i think that's what emerson is talking about in "nature". you don't have to believe in god. god is what works for you... all that really matters is that you find peace.

which...lets face it...is a rareity these days.