Fresh Air, Sunshine, and Beauty

This fall, the entire OLMC School community has been spending more time outdoors. While OLMC students have always spent regular time outside, current circumstances of the pandemic have made this time less of a break from routine and more of a daily necessity. For students and teachers, time outside provides a welcome release from some necessary indoor restrictions, but the unpredictability and difficulties of a closer relationship with nature are real. Students are disappointed when recess plans are washed out by rain. Class outside in the grass means contending with damp ground, bugs, too much sun or not enough. Even planting a garden, such as the one that fills the school courtyard, requires work and attention, and ultimately depends upon conditions beyond human control.

But the impact of a relationship with nature is real too, and not limited to the well-known health benefits. Students, teachers, and staff have developed a greater appreciation for the beauty and freedom provided by our physical grounds. During Field Day in September, there were new opportunities for gratitude during a nature walk through Tourne Park. Students were invited to see the park as more than just a backdrop for a day of friendly competition, and they gained a new appreciation for their majestic surroundings and the beautiful fall weather. This fall’s Back to School Night and Annual Pig Roast were resounding successes, despite requiring creative reorganization and extra effort to be held entirely outside. These experiences invite us to question whether our usual inclination to opt for the climate-controlled predictability of indoor venues and activities is always in our best interest.

Through nature, we are reminded that there is value in striving, that little is gained without a challenge, and that being aware of our limitations is not only healthy but essential for life. And any true, loving relationship, even with nature, is not about control. Beloved traditions, such as Field Day and the Pig Roast, were enriched by the need to look outside our previous expectations; time outside has become an expected part of each student’s day. Our increased outdoor time could be seen as an inconvenience, or perhaps we can learn again that relaxing our desire for control does not just invite disappointment, but also opens us to unexpected joy and much-needed renewal. Dare I say we could be grateful that this year has brought these lessons to the fore, for each one of us and our school community?

Because it takes effort, and often guidance, to see the worth in any inconvenience or disappointment, it is helpful for the students—and all of us—to consider these lessons together, with the direction of teachers and friends and the insights of great minds. One such great mind is the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. As a convert and Jesuit priest, his reflections on nature revolved around the relationship that was central to his life: his relationship with God. In one of his most famous poems, “God’s Grandeur,” he directs our gaze to the ways God’s glory presents itself in the natural world:  

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; 

It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil

He does not present us with sentimental images of nature—fluffy clouds, gentle breezes, happy birdsong—but instead employs imagery associated with human progress: electrical charges, metallic foil, the oil used for fuel. Technological advancements have not come without cost; all of the natural world, including mankind, is “bleared, smeared with toil.” And yet, Hopkins reminds us that nothing we do can fully obscure the awesome power—the grandeur—of God.

For all this, nature is never spent;

There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

The natural world, and God himself, breaks through our efforts to contain and control, just as dawn breaks through the darkness of night. We cannot be broken by fatigue and disappointment if we remain open to the possibilities He lovingly extends to us. Hopkins encourages us to hope—

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

World broods with warm breast and with ah! Bright wings.

Our recent time spent outdoors has sprung from necessity, a “bent world” in desperate need of the shelter of “bright wings.” As the weather changes, challenges to being outside will increase. The memories of this fall however should inspire us to bundle up, pull on boots, hats, and mittens, and allow ourselves to be surprised by the Beauty beyond our control.

Read the full poem here: “God’s Grandeur” by Gerard Manley Hopkins