by Claudia Windal

Created on: March 26, 2010   Last Updated: March 30, 2010

Sunlight is flooding in over my computer as I write. Birds are singing as they look for partners, mate and begin their nest building. Soaring high above the Mississippi River is a bald eagle and Red Tailed Hawks line lamp posts in the vigilant search for food. Trees are just beginning to bud and what had been snow filled lawns are now beginning to green. Everywhere there are signs and sounds of the presence of God in and through nature.

Is it possible that all of these changes are merely the cycle of nature having nothing to do with God? Yes, it certainly could be that. I choose to attribute these seasonal phenomena with God who keeps us attuned to our responsibilities to both enjoy and to care for the earth. It is God who has shown me that we are all connected through our Mother Earth. What we do to the earth today will impact others for generations to come.

The sunshine and beauty around us make us more responsive to one another. Contrary to winter when we are bundled up and hurrying from one destination to another, we now take our time as we move from errand to errand. I want to share my renewed heart and spirit with others by greeting them and acknowledging the beauty surrounding us  Today, I am waiting to see the first rabbit of the season. It won't be long before dozens of them are hopping around our yard and parking lot. It's already time for squirrels to birth their babies. They too, will amuse us as they run and leap from branch to branch and chase one another through your yards.

Spring rains will replace the snow of winter. The rains will make the grass greener and the budding tree leaves fill out and eventually spring into leaves. Mopeds, motorcycles, bicycles will nearly outnumber automobiles as we desire to ride through the God given beauty around us. Our Geenwinged Macaw will soon be able to travel with us and experience a semblance of his natural way of life. Young and old will stop to inquire about Apollo and many will have their only opportunity to touch such a large and gentle bird.

Family members who live long distances from us will now see us more often. It's always more pleasant to travel in the Spring and Summer. Some of us will enjoy fishing in beautiful lakes, canoeing down rivers, rock climbing, swimming in area lakes, camping in forests surrounded by deer and other wildlife. We will watch flowers bloom, plant our own gardens, care for our yards, and enjoy evenings under the stars from our decks.

I don't know how all of this came to be, but I do know that I believe God's hand was and is in creation. I hear God in the songs of birds. I see God in blossoms, in places like the Badlands (SD), on the road as the city recedes and the country surrounds me, in my heart as I breathe in deeply and experience fresh air and the smells of grass, newly planted fields, and the wind as it blows. As an American Indian, I believe that Creator God is present always in the four directions and that we experience four different powers of attributes of God as we face each of those directions. I believe that God speaks to me through the wind, a flowing brook, the eagle as it soars, and the people around me.

I do not need proof in order to believe. I need only to be open to all possibilities and I urge that each of us try that approach to finding God in the changing seasons and the world around us.

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