I have talked to many people over the past 14 years who seem to have had the same experience that I have had. During the toughest times, when life is broken and there seems to be no help...nature has pro-vided a way of communication with God and has helped to bring healing and peace to our souls.

The beauty that surrounds us in nature is an amazing thing and has helped me more than any medicine ever could have. It also filled my need for beauty, my desire for art and was a great advocate of my faith.

How can anyone look at this world and the miracles that are in such abundance in na-ture and not surrender to a creator God who is so far out of our scope of under-standing? The power and majesty that sur-rounds us in the oceans and in the moun-tains. The complex circle of life. The ex-treme beauty and color of a fall day or a spring flower. The miraculous silent world as you walk in a snow storm or in a sum-mer rain shower than makes the whole dirty world become sparkling clean again.

Nature reflects life. As we sit as students at it’s feet and we study and appreciate this gift that we have done nothing but receive, we are filled with wonder and admira-tion…more and more and more…. AL

Nature

Songs from the Valley www.songsfromthevalley.wordpress.com

February 2011

Volume 4, Issue 3

Bryce Sunrise Joseph Wilson - JWP http://josephwilsonphotography.com

And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more pain-ful than the risk it took to blossom.

- Anais Nin

Whatever hand or stream that bears this world, whoever wove the nebulae of stars and lungs and dreams, who gives such wonder flesh,

whoever draws the holy geese to flight, whatever makes the trees to reach for light and roots for hidden springs, and me for you,

whatever presence makes and breathes within the weeping child, the child who looks and clings, whatever makes her dance, or sing, or try,

whoever drums the silent march of hope in those who persevere to overcome, or give their tender hearts away in love,

who made this flesh to throb with life and light, the fallen tree insistently to sprout, the pond to reek and swell and chirp and thrive,

whatever wonder sparks this fire in us, whatever grace conspires to set things free, and grows our branching lives from common shoots,

who made the human heart—this heart—to throw its rising, falling waves against the shore of this slow-yielding, rough, but wondrous life,

whoever gave to me these tears and doubts like gravity that pull me down toward your unseen bosom, waiting, unfelt arms,

whoever is the mystery beyond all things, within me, in whose beating heart and breath in me I am within all things,

whoever made this soul to ache for you, this burning soul that is not sure of you, that, whelmed, devout, unknowing, dies for you,

Thou, whose only absence, out of all imagined things, alone can break my heart: Thou art the one, the one, I long to love—

yet do not find, or hold, or know, or sense. Your voice and mine a perfect silence make. What is this rising, then, in me toward you?

It is the only name I have for thee, this cry, this open-handed leap of doubt, thou mystery, whoever you may be.

So I will let my longing be your praise. And I will let my yearning be your voice. And I will let my wonder be your will.

And I will let your calling be my call, the love that I did not conceive, yet bear, your arms around me: love for you, for all.

_______________________________

Page 2 Songs from the Valley

Steve Garnaas-Holmes Unfolding Light www.unfoldinglight.com

Eternity Joseph Wilson - JWP http://josephwilsonphotography.com

Pausing To Drink

Sometimes we go through whole days without really tuning in to the beauty of nature that surrounds us. We have a habit of seeing it without really taking it in, yet once we begin to notice it we treat ourselves to an exquisite realm of subtle, complex scents, miraculous forms, and ethereal light. The natural world enriches our entire being through the vehicles of our senses. When we are low, nature lifts our spirits. When we are tired, it rejuvenates us—if we pause long enough to drink from its beauty. If you have fallen out of the practice of taking time to observe the light as it filters through the leaves of a tree, or the concentric rings a raindrop makes as it plops into a puddle, you can retune yourself by dedicating a day to noticing the beauty in nature.

On this day, one possibility is to rise early enough to see the sunrise. Watching the sky change colors and the world emerge from darkness is an experience that will influence the whole rest of your day in ways that words cannot de-scribe. Or simply observe the quality of the morning light as it infuses the world with its particular pale golden beauty. You may let the light play on your own hand, remembering that you are also part of the natural world. Let your intuition guide you to the elements of nature that call to you throughout the day, such as the sound of the wind as it shakes and sways a tree or the feeling of snowflakes landing on your warm eyelids and cheeks.

After you devote one day to opening your eyes more fully to the beauty of nature, you may want to make this part of your daily routine. Each day drink from the beauty all around you, and allow it to rejuvenate your entire being. All you have to do is pause, for just one minute, and really take it in, remembering to thank Mother Nature for her beauty.

www.dailyom.com

Beauty Day

Volume 4, Issue 3 Page 3

Rain Rainbow Joseph Wilson - JWP http://josephwilsonphotography.com

Page 4 Songs from the Valley

Joseph Wilson’s photography career spans more than seventeen years. Influenced early in his career by the photographer Ansel Adams. Today he continues to pursue a technical and aesthetic mastery of large format landscape photography. His love of the grand landscapes and intimate details of the American wilderness was born on his first trip to Zion National Park in 1989 as he describes below: “I can still vividly recall the cool autumn morning that began my journey into land-scape photography. During my senior year of college and after a brief visit to Las Vegas, I decided to visit the surrounding areas of Utah, Arizona and Nevada. Late afternoon, my girlfriend and I left Vegas and drove 150 miles to Utah’s Zion Na-tional Park. We arrived at the park entrance late and decided to drive to a trailhead (Temple of Sinawava) and wait for sunrise. After a brief sleep, we wrapped together in a blanket and sat on the hood of the car. We watched the first golden rays of morning light illuminate the massive monolith called the Great White Throne and descend onto the roaring waters of the Virgin River. The beauty was almost inde-scribable, spiritual. For the next two days, we camped, hiked, explored and photo-graphed Zion Park. I reflect back on that moment as an epiphany. I realized I was viewing the land as God created it, untouched and undefiled by man. Over the past seventeen years, I have learned that my photography is a visual voice for the majesty, beauty and grace of our land. I approach my artwork with humility and thanksgiving as I visually communicate the interconnectedness all living things share with our planet. It is a universal gospel that transcends religion, nationalities and economic status and allows the viewer to look through God’s eyes at the begin-ning. The mantra that drives my photography is captured by the eloquent writings of Chief Seattle and Ralph Waldo Emerson: ‘This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself’ – CS ‘We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related, the eternal ONE. And this deep power in which we exist and whose beatitude is all accessible to us, is not only self-sufficing and perfect in every hour, but the act of seeing and the thing seen, the seer and the spectacle, the subject and the object, are one. We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are shining parts, is the soul.’ - RWE Now, whether I’m waiting for sunrise over Zabriskie Point in Death Valley, wander-ing through white-barked Aspens in Colorado, or rappelling into a seemingly bot-tomless slot canyon somewhere in the Colorado Plateau, I cherish the serenity, inti-macy, and trepidation I feel in living that moment. The photography created out of

these adventures is but a brief moment in time. The intent is to capture a moment that will resonate in our minds for a greater good. Ultimately, I hope that my photography will inspire individuals to ex-plore their own relationship with the natural world and to realize our need for a peaceful coexistence with the land and it’s effects on our own creative spirit. Journeys into wilderness can be journeys into our souls where we release the myopic chains societal expectations and see as a child sees. We discover that living to the fullest of our human potential does not have to come at the expense of the land on which we depend or the commodification of life. With that knowledge and wisdom, we begin to live.”

In honor of land, light, water, wind and spirit, Joseph Wilson, Jr. Soli Deo Gloria

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Passing Storm Joseph Wilson - JWP http://josephwilsonphotography.com

Volume 4, Issue 3 Page 5

Burning Bush Joseph Wilson - JWP http://josephwilsonphotography.com

Nature Brings Us Home to Ourselves If you find yourself exhausted and thrown off balance by your surroundings, a return to nature can help you reconnect with peace.

Throughout the ages great minds been informed by Mother Nature, and have recognized the tremendous power of her wisdom.

These quotes about the joy of being in all aspects of nature will warm your heart and make you feel part of it all. Here are 21 enlightening quotes on how to learn from nature - may they help inspire you to fully appreciate and enjoy the bounty of Mother Earth. Nature Helps Us Rejoice If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive. - Eleonora Duse

Nature Teaches Us Patience Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. - Ralph Waldo Em-erson

Nature Can Soothe Us in So Many Ways I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order. - John Burroughs

Nature Helps Us Recognize Our Strengths It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. - Edmund Hillary

Nature Shows Us How to Express Ourselves A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. - Chinese Proverb

Nature Shows Us Our Own Potential Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean. - Ryunosuke Satoro

Natures Proves We Should Go with the Flow What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn't have any doubt - it is sure to get where it is going, and it doesn't want to go anywhere else. - Hal Boyle

Natures Helps Us Appreciate the Importance of Tears Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life. - John Updike

Nature Shows Us Love and Affection How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains! - John Muir

Nature Helps Us Listen to God I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. - George Washington Carver

21 Simple Ways to learn from Nature www.beliefnet.com

Nature Helps Us Release Our Worries to the Wind Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their en-ergy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. - John Muir

Nature Shows Us She is Happy to do Her Thing Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are. - Osho

Nature Offers Many Pleasures There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more. -George Gordon, Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

Draw Strength from Nature Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. - John Muir

Nature Helps Us Slow Down Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao Tzu

Nature Connects Us All to Mother Earth One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. - William Shakespeare

Nature Brings Us Back to Our Natural Roots I can enjoy society in a room; but out of doors, nature is company enough for me. - William Hazlitt

Page 6 Songs from the Valley

Moon over Sycamore Joseph Wilson - JWP http://josephwilsonphotography.com

Landscape Light Making images of God's gift is a spiritual outlet for me. When I am out in the field studying composition and waiting for light I feel a connection with nature that rejuvenates my spirit. During my best photographic explorations; light, time and composition converge to reveal an image of almost indescribable beauty that approaches surrealism. This gives me a wonderful sense of peace and inner calm. In this relaxed state I begin to see the intricate and infinite details of creation. In honor of light, land, water, wind and spirit, - Joseph Henry Wilson, Jr.

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Nature Helps Us Live in the Moment You must not know too much, or be too precise or scientific about birds and trees and flowers and water-craft; a certain free margin, and even vagueness - perhaps ignorance, credulity - helps your enjoyment of these things. - Walt Whitman

Nature Shows Us How to Evolve and Grow Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. - Albert Einstein

Nature Can Help Heal Us Nature is my medicine. - Sara Moss-Wolfe

Nature Is Our Teacher Nature is man's teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search, unseals his eye, illumes his mind, and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds of her exis-tence. - Alfred Billings Street

Nature Inspires Great Works Nature is a writer's best friend. - Agavé Powers

Nature Shows Us the Simple Life To find the univer-sal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the re-wards of the simple life." - John Burroughs

Nature Is Per-fect as She Is In nature, nothing is perfect and eve-rything is perfect. Trees can be con-torted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beauti-ful. - Alice Walker

21 Ways...Cont. Volume 4, Issue 3

Summer's turned her face toward the way she'll go, but hasn't yet. It's I who turn, before the trees, to thoughts of losses and regret. But she reminds me, in the way she offers up this gift, to let the light move without effort, dread, remorse or clinging through the leaves (that are not dead today) and so to move, attend, and still believe this is a summer day—this day— that I can cherish and receive, each moment given, full of that one moment's miracle. ________________________ Weather Report Expect today today. Tomorrow may form upwind of us but it will remain consistently today all day. Conditions will remain steady and prevail into tomorrow. _______________________ Steve Garnaas-Holmes Unfolding Light

www.unfoldinglight.net

Page 7

Top R. - Homecoming Left B. - Glow Joseph Wilson - JWP http://josephwilsonphotography.com

www.beliefnet.com

My name is Amy Lloyd (al) and I say, with Joe, Soli Deo Gloria, or, in English, To God Be the Glory! What glorious gifts we have been granted us here on the blue ball, third rock from the Sun! We are surrounded by beauty and it is breathtaking! Sometimes we forget how much sur-rounds us right where we live. We mistakenly think we need a ‘vacation’ to visit the Grand Canyon, or some distant spot to see nature. I would love to travel to see some of these places that Joe has captured so beautifully, but I have found that this same beauty is all around me. Some of my best memories are in nature right where I was at that moment! Sitting on Brian Stack’s bench at Horn Pond, MA with my friend Raks; sitting on a deck at a little cottage in Clinton, CT, watching a bunny eat grass and an osprey soar through the marsh, I was at one of the most difficult places in my journey, and I felt completely serene and at total peace; visiting Pair-a-Chairs Shores with Chris and cups of Panera coffee! I could go on and on. Almost everywhere you are, at any time, there is a place of beauty near by. I work five minutes away from a park called Sharon Woods. As often as possible, I go there, even if it’s for 10 minutes before I go sit in my cube. It makes all the difference in how I feel that day! Don’t wait for vacation, go outside TODAY and find a beautiful spot to sit and drink in the glory and majesty that is all around us! Feed the ducks, birds, or whatever else you can find, walk in the woods, get your hands wet in a stream or put your feet in the ocean! Wherever you are, find some nature and talk to God!

February 2011 volume 4 issue 3

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Forests, lakes, and riv-ers, clouds and winds, stars and flowers, stu-pendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes -

every form of animate or inanimate existence, leaves its impress upon

the soul of man.

- Orison Swett Marsden

About me...

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