STEWARDS OF NATURE - DR. GIL HAAS, SAINT AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY EPISCOPAL CHURCH, OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

John Muir


A Steward of Nature


The most famous and accessible of these canyon valleys, and also the one that presents their most striking and sublime features on the grandest scale, is the Yosemite situated in the basin of the Merced River at an elevation of 4000 feet above the level of the sea.  It is about seven miles long, half a mile to a mile wide, and nearly a mile deep in the solid granite flank of the range.  The walls are made up of rocks, mountains in size, partly separated from each other by side canyons, and they are so sheer in front, and so compactly and harmoniously arranged on a level floor, that the Valley, comprehensively seen, looks like an immense hall or temple lighted from above.  But no temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite.  Every rock in its walls seems to glow with life.  Down through the middle of the Valley flows the crystal Merced River of Mercy, peacefully quiet, reflecting lilies and trees and the onlooking rocks; things frail and fleeting and types of endurance meeting here and blending in countless forms as if into this one mountain mansion Nature had gathered her choicest treasures, to draw her lovers into close and confiding communion with her.


Written from the Yosemite Valley
~From Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
In keeping with St. Augustine’s commitment this year to be consciously aware of and contribute to a theology and ministry of creation care, articles derived from past Stewards of Eden will be quoted in this space in parallel with our six week class at 9:30 AM of the same name.


If you have a liturgical question or an inquiry about anything that transpires during or around our worship service, please forward the question you would like researched to:  gghaas@aol.com. Please note whether we can credit you as the source of the question.