GREETINGS FROM THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS

Once, many years ago, I was walking alone in the woods and thought to myself, "Nature is my church." That feeling has been with me since I was a child. As a young man, going through my timultuous teenage years, I could always find comfort in the wild. When relationships with people seemed complex, being in the woods allowed me to set aside any roles or ideas of who I was supposed to be and simply BE. It seems that the egolessness of nature is what we find so comforting. In a society drowning in it's own static, the peace, silence and solitude of time in wild places brings great solace. That's why some friends and I decided to start this church for people with the same values. I know there are many of us. A friend of mine explained that the word "pagan" just means "country dweller." I'm glad to have grown up in the country. As I get older, I find cities and the traffic and congestion there less and less to my liking. I have certain ideas of what worship should be like but I don't want to impose them on anyone else. I believe in a democratic, non-dogmatic church, where people get to decide how they worship. This is a church for nature-lovers everywhere.

#Photography #nature #art #bird