Closer to nature, closer to God

AN amusing discovery I have made in recent years about people is the connection between their favorite hobbies and their attitude, temperament, and creed.

For example, a good number of avid plant lovers I know are good natured and have moderate habits and mild disposition. Is it plain coincidence that they are also God-fearing, though not necessarily religious in the strictest sense?

Gerardo “Gerry” Dumancas, a former executive of an international shipping company, has made a virtual “fortress of solitude” out of his two-storey townhouse in Muntinlupa City.

From the outside it looks like an ancient castle overladen with leafy vines and shrubs, seasonally bedecked with flowers of every shape and color. Adding a jungle touch to this setting is the constant chirping of Jerry’s pet lory birds. Obviously, his obsession with plants has been a showcase of Jerry’s love for nature.

It took Gerry at least a decade to develop his mini paradise. Curiously, despite the façade of strict privacy of his dwelling, Gerry is no recluse in isolation. Mild-mannered and soft- spoken, Gerry is known as a friendly neighbor, ever willing and ready to help in the subdivision’s improvement projects. He is also active in religious outreach missions as a Catholic lay minister.

Among the middle-class communities of Las Piñas City are some of the greenest residences in the country today. It looks as if the residents there are in a perpetual contest for growing vegetables, fruit-bearing plants and trees in their home gardens.

One of these fruitful gardens belongs to the Dacumos family from Davao. Siblings Boots, Raymond, Tess, and Ciara inherited their love for plants from their matriarch Ruth, now in her senior years.

Boots, a professional nurse who once worked in London, is now in charge of their garden teeming with vegetables such as mongo, pechay, tomatoes and eggplants; and fruits like mango, guavas, and calamansi. His green thumb skills, however, come hand in hand with the family’s other ‘planting’ activity — a spiritual one.

All members of the Dacumos family are active preachers of Jehovah’s Witnesses. qhe lockdowns imposed due to Covid-19 had not slowed down the Witnesses’ evangelizing work worldwide, an activity they liken to sowing seeds, this time referring to the “seeds of the Kingdom gospel.”

Gardening as stress-buster

Ask any avid garden hobbyist, and he’ll tell you gardening gives him a unique feeling of serenity even while living in the city. Apparently, such affinity with nature relieves stress. It insulates him, though momentarily, from the distressing pressures of everyday life. Additionally, the greenery that surrounds him is a balm to the eye while the refreshing scents of herbs and flowers give a dose of aromatherapy, a form of healing by scent.

Juvy Rodulfa, a volunteer preacher serving with her husband Junn in the Gensan English Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, noticed a large vacant space near the house they just moved into. She wasted no time converting it into a plant nursery, filling it with ornamentals of different designs and colors, including flowering ones. qhen, she started raising vegetables too.

“It made a lot of difference,” Juvy noted. “staring into an empty lot would give us a feeling of emptiness. But now that the place abounds with plants, every time we gaze at it, our eyes would feast on a rich variety of refreshing colors. From leafy greens to colorful blooms, every sight fills us with peace and endless joy. Our green paradise came just in time before the lockdowns began.”

qoday, more urban dwellers, even those in crowded areas, are discovering the untold benefits of what is now known as “container gardening.” They find that even plants grown in pots, empty cans, and every container filled with soil could thrive and flourish if adequately watered and exposed to sunlight. some people have grown even fruit-bearing trees on big containers — avocadoes, guava, chico, atis and guyabano, among others.

Feeling God’s presence in nature

Not a few individuals who had converted to gardening as a regular hobby claim there is more to it than just expressing one’s love for nature.

“In a deeper sense, we find in nature some link with the Creator, since everything natural proves that God does exist,” explained Boots Dacumos.

“qhere’s intelligent design in every object of nature — in leaves, flowers and fruits. There’s also amazing chemistry in the tastes and scents in it. And as we know, where there is design, there must be a superior Intelligence behind it. Does it not point to no other but a loving God who created all things?” Boots continued.

As the Good Book said thousands of years ago, “For [God’s] invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship so that they are inexcusable.” (Romans 1:20)

study more closely the nature of things around us, and we come to the inevitable conclusion that indeed, there is God from whom all life springs. As we come closer to nature, in effect, we come closer to God.

A future Paradise ahead?

Christian lovers of nature expressed the belief that God has meant humans to thrive in a planet home where nature abounds in all its beauty and splendor, the reason why he has implanted in man a natural desire for Nature.

It’s in a natural surrounding that humans feel happiest — at the sight of forests, mountains, waterfalls, rivers and streams. qhen, could have God also destined mankind to live forever in a Paradise setting?

One proof in the scriptures that those believers cite is found in the Book of Psalms.

“For evil men will be done away with. But those hoping in Jehovah will possess the earth. . . . But the meek will possess the earth, and they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.” (Psalm 37:10, 11)

Jesus himself declared in his famous sermon on the Mount, “Happy are the mild-tempered, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5).

With those verses in mind, isn’t it but logical to conclude that man’s love for nature is bringing him closer to God, and that God’s own purpose is ultimately to restore Paradise earth for man, so Godly humans can enjoy it forever?

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has even put eternity in their heart.” (Ecclesiastes 3:13)

And where will men enjoy “eternity” that God has “put in their heart”? “qhe righteous will possess the earth, and they will live forever on it.” (Psalm 37: 29)

(For your comments, E-mail mcsucquitjr@gmail.com)