Synopsis
Human beings “must now return nature . . . into our worship. And Quaker meeting is the perfect place to make that reclamation,” writes Jim Hood in this poetic and thoughtful meditation. In celebrating the interrelationship of living beings – the ecology – of the natural world, alongside the deep interrelationships at work in a meeting for worship, Hood calls us to deepen our spiritual relationship to nature and to the Light that illuminates it. He urges us to restore this deep connectedness with nature not only for our personal spiritual health, but so we can find our way back into connectedness with a planet we have largely forgotten and abandoned. Discussion questions included.
About the Author(s)
James W. (Jim) Hood has been teaching courses in nineteenth century British literature, literature and ethics, and nature writing since 1999 at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is the author of a book on Alfred Tennyson (Divining Desire: Tennyson and the Poetics of Transcendence) as well as articles on Victorian literature, and he recently edited a collection of essays titled Quakers and Literature. Having attended various Friends meetings in Florida (where he grew up), North Carolina, Connecticut, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Britain, Jim is now a member of Friendship Friends Meeting (North Carolina Yearly Meeting Conservative) in Greensboro. His interest in Quaker education has led him to serve on the executive committee of the Friends Association for Higher Education and the board of New Garden Friends School. When not teaching, Jim enjoys hiking, canoeing, birding, and making furniture in his woodshop.
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #449
