A NOTEBOOK OF SOUNDS:
CONNECTING TO GOD
IN NATURE WITH A ROCHA
By Greg Howes, 100 Huntley Street, Producer
It was just a simple notebook. But what did this old worn-out, dropped in a pond, once-forgotten on a Greyhound bus notebook in my hands sound like? Everything really. How can a notebook ‘sound’ like everything? Let’s journey…
At the age of 23, I was on a mission to find God. The Bay St. television production company where I worked in Toronto closed their doors. I decided to open a new one. I loaded up a backpack, jumped on a Greyhound bus and hitch-hiked a ride in a red pick-up truck towards unknown adventure. Home would be a small shack in the woods for a month. I kept a notebook. A notebook of sounds.
I would write down every sound I heard within five minute intervals. I would do this many times each day – an odd sound experiment that allowed me to practice attentiveness, patience, concentration – real listening! So, what did I hear? Nature, rain, wind, seasons, birds, insects – all orchestrated – by God? Was there a beautiful order to all of this?
Lessons learned way back then now seem distant. Today, that notebook has been replaced by a cell phone. It chirps and chimes away, I listen, respond, post, engage – consume. At night I charge the phone then trick myself into thinking my witty Instagram post, or thoughtful e-mail response will give me the charge I require. What has happened to me? What is happening to us? Devices are everywhere. Airports and malls now have charging stations at every turn – but where does one go to unplug, to disconnect?
For the answer, I sought the advice of a 10-year-old. It’s mid-summer and Elliot steps off the bright yellow school bus and onto the green grass of Cedar Haven Eco-Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. Cedar Haven Eco- Centre is part of A Rocha, a wonderful international family of environmental stewardship organizations committed to showing God’s love to creation. They do this through science research, environmental education and sustainable food work. A Rocha Canada has conservation projects in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario. Elliot is one of the many elementary schoolaged kids taking part in the week-long Wild Things day camp. With a magnifying glass in hand, Elliot examines a purple flowered plant in detail before consulting his plant identification chart.
“I just think that it’s so interesting how people have learned to get to know devices so much that they are forgetting about their natural instinct to connect with nature”, said Elliot. “I just think it’s incredible to go out for a hike and get connected to nature. Where I live I could just go up two blocks and there is a hiking trail and a lot of Sundays we go hiking there. Already I’ve been learning about plants and there are some of the plants in the book that we got that I haven’t seen before, and they are new to me. And I can’t wait to learn about insects tomorrow.”
Elliot is my kind of kid! The sounds from that notebook are starting to come back to me.
As we walk across the Cedar Haven property, A Rocha Ontario Director Luke Wilson explains that the grounds we are standing on contain the headwaters of the Bronte Creek which flows into Lake Ontario. Designated a provincially significant wetland and because it is part of the Carolinian forest, 26 different eco-types call this forest home. For Luke, creation care is a way of celebrating life – a worthwhile lesson to instill in young minds.
“Often these days, kids are growing up much more attached to the screen than to the forest like it was back when I was younger. There are a lot of studies that show there is a real benefit, a health benefit, an emotional benefit, and a physiological benefit to being in God’s creation. But sadly, it’s rare these days, so we are helping kids relearn how to just be and explore the wild and take risks and be curious, wonder, and ask questions. We find that by the end it leads to a type of wonder and appreciation and deep connection to God’s creation.”
In B.C., Brooksdale is the home to one of the most dynamic Christian environmental centers in North America. A Rocha’s 18-acre property is a living lab comprised of forests, a threatened river system, organic gardens, and heritage houses. A unique combination of sensitive wildlife habitat and agricultural land where critical environmental issues are researched, addressed, and solved.
In Manitoba, about an hour and a half outside of Winnipeg located on the edge of the boreal forest, A Rocha is busy constructing a new environmental and retreat centre, a living lab composed of 220 acres of forests, meadow and river valley. The goal: connecting people to place. Here future students, interns, guests and volunteers from around the world will be immersed in compassionate, Christian engagement with creation.
So, as our society demands that we dilute our time on digital devices, I’m beginning to think it’s about time I push the off button, pull out an old-fashioned pen and paper, and really listen to what this wonderful world around me has to offer.
BC Mission to 5 Indigenous Communities