Brothers,
As I mentioned in class today, the transcendentalists were greatly concerned with the spiritual element of nature and its relationship to God and the Soul.
But what does all of this mean according to you?
Put another way:
What is nature? What, or who is the Soul? And of course, what, or who is God?
Reflect upon these questions and post your answers to this thread (remember, click the subject heading above and scroll down in order to click "comment"). You can use as much room within your "dialogue box" to answer the questions as you see fit. I challenge you to use your imagination and consider those images which come to mind when you hear or read the words: Nature, Soul, God. Be creative and offer feedback to your classmates should you feel so inclined.
Peace,
BRob
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
22 comments:
In my opinion nature is everything surrounding. It includes all of life. This ties into to soul because soul is the driving force of life. It helps to spurr nature. Lastly, God is what makes everything come together and in order for everything to work as it does people must have faith in God.
Pete,
Fair enough. However, how would you physically describe the soul? Is it essence? Is it matter? Is it a shining light in the middle of a person's chest? And how about God? What does your imagination perceive of God? Is God a big, white bearded man who lives in the sky? Or is God something different?
Tell us more...
In my opinion the idea of nature encompasses(sp?) all things that exist and all things that are perceived. To me nature is math, literature, science and everything in between. It is what the mind makes up and what the mind knows. Everything is apart of nature. I think that the soul of someone is in a certain respect their conscience. What they think and how they respond to something makes up who a person truly is. A person is how they act. A persons soul is the essence of who they are. God to me is in a way the soul of everything that exists. He is the energy that powers the world to run. I don't see God so much as a being as much as a divine existance. I think i worded all that how I meant for it to sound.
Tyler Knarr
I think that nature is the physical surroundings. When i hear the word nature i just think of the outside, meaining trees, plants, grass, and etc. I think our soul is part of our conscience and it makes up who we are. Our soul defines our identity. I don't think the soul can be physically defined, i think its just a part of us that God had created when making us. I think that you cant define God physically. I view God as our creator and that God is the reason why everything is able to exist.
I feel that nature is the existance of the things around us that we must adapt to and try and figure out how it works. When we see nature, we see change, and things that we may not understand. However, we do understand that nature is something that we are a aprt of and we live within its power. Thios ties in with our soul. Our soul is what helps us to feel things without knowing how to judge them. Our soul dictates how we feel about one thing and how we must live under the power of nature. Our soul is what makes us unique and what seperates us from others and makes us different. We live with God in our souls. God is important because we can not see him, but we know he is there. He is nature and controls our surroundings in unpredictable ways because we cannot understand his power. He drives our soul to do things just and seperate us from good and bad. Nature, our soul, and God are all very important and make us what we are, although we may not fully understand them.
Nature is the world around us. The things that we can see, touch, taste, and feel, as well as the things that we can’t. To me nature is important because it gives me reality. I know that it exists and I know that I am a part of it. Our soul is something spiritual. It is something that cannot truly be defined, because we can’t see it or examine it. Personally I feel that the soul is what makes a human being, it is our intelligence; what makes us different from the other animals. God is what makes nature and the soul possible. I do not think that we can give God a face or tie him to a form or shape. God simply exists, he is what he is, and because of Him we exist. However seeing as God can accomplish anything he could possibly manifest Himself physically, but God is mysterious so we will probably never know.
I think that God is very much related to nature and/or can be seen in nature itself. I see the soul as the source of life and if God is also the source of life; God could then be seen as the soul. Nature, I think, consists of everything that God has made including the earth and it's inhabitants and the rest of the universe. Nature could also be seen in the behavior of a human - since the way we act is natural. Our actions are all fueled by our soul which gives us life and, as I mentioned, the soul could be seen as God.
I believe mature is everything around us. Nature is not only the physical surroundings we encounter everyday, but also the mental and spiritual surroundings we are surrounded by during our daily lives. I believe the soul is something that is deep with in us, which in some cases people are afraid to let out and let other people know what their thinking and what their really all about. Its the part of your mind where the deepest thinking takes place for thoughts and feelings. Finally, I believe God is indeed our father, and a guide for a better future, not only for ourseleves but for the rest of the world. He's someone that gives us faith and gives us something to believe in.
I feel that nature means all of the things in the world that were created and are constantly evolving without any form of human influence. I feel that the term "soul" is just a way of saying that humans are above all other forms of life because they have a certain mystical something that one cannot prove exhists. To me the term God is one of uncertainty. When I say this I mean that it envokes many a question in my brain about wiether it is real or not. I suppose that this is the reason I am on the fence with the whole religion thing.
Nature is the material world but it is also qualities belonging to someone, or thing.Soul is the spiritual part of humans regarded in its moral aspect, or as believed to survive death and be subject to happiness or misery in a life to come.God is the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe without him there wouldnt be anything.
Are soul is a piece of God within us. I think that nature is what God delivers on earth to connect to our soul. It is one long line God, nature and our soul. Our soul is our strength and what we are most like in our purest form. When God gives us nature it is meant to inspire who we are. It is not a thing but a connection to God. All that nature does God provides. When he is providing nature to us he is providing elements that make our soul. Nature nourishes us and it is nourishment from God.
i think that nature is the world around us without humans interferring and without civilization. This includes animals, plants, rivers, mountains, oceans, etc. Also nature is the tendancy for somthing to occure. for example: human nature. A person's soul is their thoughts, feelings, emotions, and personality. Without it, we would have nor morals and we would be lifeless after death. Soul is the spirit within each one of us. And lastly, God created us and watches over everone. He gives us life, truth, knowlege, and love.
Nature is everything around us. Everybody connects with nature in a different way or, in some cases, don't connect with it. Nature is the sky, sun, trees, and it is also, relating to one of the other topics, the soul of the world. We often associate nature with our interests, like when people look at clouds and say that it "looks like a flower," maybe that's one way that that person connects with nature. In any case, everybody has something that they like about nature, whether it's the sun, the sky, trees, flowers, your favorite animal. We all have connections with nature because we all essentially come from nature.
The next topic here is the soul. The soul is the spirit inside of everyone. our soul is the thing that makes people "people." If we didn't have souls than we wouldn't ever be happy or alive at all. Our soul is our life force, it doesn't matter what religion you're from, almost everybody believes in some kind of soul, whether it's the sould from God, the Holy Spirit, our proverbial life force, or maybe just the thing inside of us that makes us wake up in the morning.
God...God is beyond words, God is percieved as so many different things in this world that is pretty much impossible to know who God really is. THis religion says this this religion says that. How is anyone to know who god really is. It's not like we can believe every person who claims to have "seen the light of God." We have to draw the line somewhere. God is an eternal being, or a diety to some. God is a loving, caring person who is always there for you. God is a treacherous being who created us just to toy with the emotions that he made just for his own enjoyment, God is everlasting. I have no idea what god is. I have no idea who god is, but I'll just say that I know that he's there. As long as I can keep faith that God is there, I think that it's safe to say I can keep faith in almost anything. God is really wierd.
I think nature, soul, and God are bound together, but exist on different planes. Nature is life all around us from insects to human beings. It is on the plane that we can see with our senses. Soul is what nature holds. Every living thing in nature has a soul. Souls exist on a more supernatural plane that we cannot sense. Then God is what really binds nature and the soul together. God created all of nature and put souls into each of the living things. God exists on a plane beyond our imagination.
In my opinion, nature is what can be seen, the soul is what cannot been seen, and God is the mediator between the two. Nature can be seen in humans (human nature) and it can be seen on earth (plants, animals, oceans, valleys, mountains). I beleive God controls how humans interact with the other surrounding forms of nature. The soul is what gives us partial control over how we interact and make decisions. Even though God has complete power, humans still have a soul which enables us to have free will, and the ability to make decisions.
nature is everything around us. the typical natury stuff like birds and plants and trees and bugs and things. but its also people and just how everything interacts. its part of each individual person and its unique to them and determines how they act.
soul is whats inside of you. i dont know if its a spirit or something but its just like something inside you thats pretty close to your nature. it helps define who you are. but idk where it comes from and if its really something that only humans have or if everything has a soul but just a different evolution of one. it gives us someting to do with our lives cause we're constantly looking for proof of something that we claim is inside ourselves and the reason why we're living. so why do we need proof?
God is something we will never understand. he is beyond anything we can concieve if he is real. which is hard to prove. God is god because he is not anything else he is and thats all. its a real hard concept for people to grasp.
Nature, God, and soul are all themes which are related to eachother. Nature is a key element of our lives, it is everywhere and it is all around us. Nature is all of our surroundings and we are constantly in contact with it. God is our creator and our protector, He wathces over us and gives us strength. God creates nature and He has complete control over His creation. The soul is our inner spirit which lives on after we die. Our soul connects us to God, it is our relationship with Him. The soul maintains our bond with God long after we die and leave God's creation, nature.
I think that nature is everything in the outdoors. Everything living on Earth since the beginning of time is nature. The soul is a spiritual gift to us from God. The soul gives us the power to express who we are as individuals through emotions, art, literature, etc. Every soul is unique. God is the creator of both nature and the soul. We can not give God a face but we know him to be a father figure to all of his creations.
This was one very deep thinking assignment....
I think that God is the higher being that created us all. I believe that he has created both the nature around us and the soul that he made for our life. God cares for us and trys to help us through life on earth.The soul is like our spirtual being. It connects with god and the deeper aspects of our life. The aspects that we realy care about and have a stong passion for. Fianlly the nature is not only the physical stuff all around that god has created but also our first instincts that are primative and come from the soul and god. They are not learned or practiced they are simply us. All of these things tie into together because created them all, the soul links our nature and god and the nature is a product of god through the soul.
below is andrew's comment, posted on the other sections' thread:
Andrew Z said...
Nature, Soul, and God mean a lot to me. Nature is everything that surrounds us. All animals, plants and other living things. Our Soul is important because it makes us our own person. Our soul is what makes us different from all other people. The soul can not only represent a perons spirituality but there their faith in other things. God can be linked to both Soul and to Nature. We can think of God as the creator of nature and as our own soul. God is a person that we can look to and seek help from in time of troubles.
Gentlemen,
Thank you for your insightful written reflections on aspects of our existence that are difficult to articulate in word. I believe that you all said something at once unique and similar. More in class...
Nature is our surroundings. which was made by God. I realy cant describe God as anything more than the feeling you get when..well for me its when im under the lights on a friday night that feeling that just everything is right and nothing can go wrong. and your soul is what makes you who you are its what gives you the ability to feel that feeling under the lights
Post a Comment