In the aftermath of the launch at the minster in Reading, England, of Karen Armstrong’s newest book, Sacred Nature, a spokesperson for the church declared, “Hearing Karen reverence for nature with great passion and respect was an inspiration to…preserve and nurture our natural spaces.” Here’s hoping! Because, as pagdandi.org explains in its critique, “When people in the West began to separate God and nature in the 17th century,” humankind came “to plunder the natural world, and to promote our individual selves in unhealthy and destructive ways.”
In its review, The Guardian points to Armstrong’s “many examples of how ancient spiritual traditions can teach us to regain a sense of the sacredness of nature.” These needn’t be overburdensome: “Spending a few minutes each day quietly absorbing the sights and sounds of nature can help remind us that we are part of the world around us, and depend on it, as a child depends on its mother.”
A theologian and best-selling author, Armstrong concludes, “We have seen how nature was revered by the great sages, mystics, and prophets of the past. It is now up to us to revive that knowledge and commitment, and recover our bond with the natural world.”
Sacred Nature: How We Can Recover Our Bond with the Natural World
By Karen Armstrong
Bodley Head, 2022
