10-16-2006, 08:26 PM
[cool][#0000ff]I truly believe that a person can adhere to their "one true" religion and find spirituality in many places. It may be different for different people.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Over the years I have been "blessed" to have been able to travel widely and to visit many places. Some are of such overwhelming beauty that only the most unfeeling person would deny the sense of awe and inspiration they feel just by being there. Others require some advance knowledge and preparation to take full advantage of the potential they offer.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are many places in nature that can create the feeling of being in an outdoor cathedral. I have several in my past that I can bring to mind, in times of stress, to help recreate the magic of the moment and make life's problems pale in comparison. I suspect that most of us have those mystical magical places in our memory banks.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The two times of day that really help with imagining you are in a holy place are dawn and dusk. In those times of low light and (usually) calm conditions, all of the senses are heightened and the subdued light and shadows cast a special glow upon everything.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]For me, the most inspiring place I have ever experienced was in the redwoods near the Smith River, in northern California. Early one morning, on my way down to a favorite steelhead hole, I walked through a dense stand of the centuries old trees. The ground was a smooth carpet of fallen needles, with no other brush or growth to impede walking. The first rays of the morning sun knifed down between the dense canopy of the giant trees, filtered by faint wisps of smoke from nearby campfires. I was still a ways from the rushing water and there was literally no other sound besides that I made as I shuffled through the fallen needles. When I stopped to look around, there was no sound at all...except the imaginary choir of angels I could almost hear. I actually felt a shivver pass through my body as I took it all in and almost forgot that I was on my way to rendezvous with a steelhead. I will always remember that experience, but I can't remember whether I caught anything or not.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Indeed there are those that make fishing their primary religion. Doesn't make them bad people.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Over the years I have been "blessed" to have been able to travel widely and to visit many places. Some are of such overwhelming beauty that only the most unfeeling person would deny the sense of awe and inspiration they feel just by being there. Others require some advance knowledge and preparation to take full advantage of the potential they offer.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are many places in nature that can create the feeling of being in an outdoor cathedral. I have several in my past that I can bring to mind, in times of stress, to help recreate the magic of the moment and make life's problems pale in comparison. I suspect that most of us have those mystical magical places in our memory banks.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The two times of day that really help with imagining you are in a holy place are dawn and dusk. In those times of low light and (usually) calm conditions, all of the senses are heightened and the subdued light and shadows cast a special glow upon everything.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]For me, the most inspiring place I have ever experienced was in the redwoods near the Smith River, in northern California. Early one morning, on my way down to a favorite steelhead hole, I walked through a dense stand of the centuries old trees. The ground was a smooth carpet of fallen needles, with no other brush or growth to impede walking. The first rays of the morning sun knifed down between the dense canopy of the giant trees, filtered by faint wisps of smoke from nearby campfires. I was still a ways from the rushing water and there was literally no other sound besides that I made as I shuffled through the fallen needles. When I stopped to look around, there was no sound at all...except the imaginary choir of angels I could almost hear. I actually felt a shivver pass through my body as I took it all in and almost forgot that I was on my way to rendezvous with a steelhead. I will always remember that experience, but I can't remember whether I caught anything or not.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Indeed there are those that make fishing their primary religion. Doesn't make them bad people.[/#0000ff]
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