Beholding Nature

"Eric Horan's photographs transport us into the boat, onto the shore and knee-deep into the marsh." Imagine that it's first light and quiet, the sun beginning to rise in glorious color ... suddenly, overhead, an eagle flies, soaring on the updraft.Now, imagine that you are the eagle. From either perspective, you'll delight in the images of Beholding Nature. From graphic, aerial photographs to lush landscapes, vast stormy seascapes and spectacular birds and animals, you'll enjoy each photograph in rich detail and brilliant color. Eric's insights help set the scene and enhance your experience.Eric Horan's body of photographic work shows his deep connection to the natural world that surrounds us. Join the journey and soar with the eagles, Beholding Nature.

"A fine collection of probing and imaginative discussions on the relation between the Incarnation and the arts." --Nicholas Wolterstorff, Yale Divinity School

Two related exploratory studies, one with families, and a second one with adult and child members of an independent school community, suggest that our connections with the rhythms, processes, species, and cycles of nature, our love and feelings of affinity for nature, can be strengthened by practicing contemplation outdoors. In The Family Nature Workshop Study, urban and suburban families participated in a seven-week Contemplation in Nature program, and in The Sit Spot Study, children and adult members from an urban school community practiced sitting quietly outdoors, recording observations in a journal twice a week for five weeks. Changes in connectedness were measured using the Inclusion of Nature in Self Scale (Schultz, 2001), the Ten-item Connectedness to Nature Scale (C. Frantz, email communication, January 11, 2012), the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (Greco, Baer & Smith, 2011), and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (Brown & Ryan, 2003). Analysis of journal entries provided additional insight into the participants' experiences of self, experiences of the world outside of self, experiences of the self in relationship with other community members, and expressions of Biophilia Values (Kellert & Wilson, 1993). The journals reveal a picture of nature found in suburban and urban landscapes as it was perceived and experienced by the humans in the environment, people who were willing to take time out of busy schedules to pause, sit, listen, and learn. The journals thereby open a window through which we can view the everyday and extraordinary experiences of being a human in and as part of nature.

This book straddles the fertile middle ground between science and religion at a time when the conversation is dominated by extremists on both sides. Taking seriously the modern view of the universe, including the fossil record for the history of life across millions of years, the author considers our relationship to the rest of nature. In addition, the age-old questions concerning meaning, values, and our place within it all are perhaps more pressing than ever before. This work provides a broad engagement with major ideas, including evolution and earth stewardship, while drawing upon a rich heritage of philosophy and literature and doing so in a manner accessible to the general reader.

"I would love to look more like Jesus. But I just can't . . . " Many Christians are longing for change. They make an intentional effort, but when they realize they are not making any progress, they become frustrated. In this book, the author uses 2 Corinthians 3:18 to point us to a way to expect everything from Jesus and his Spirit. You only need to do one thing: Look to Jesus in faith and enjoy his glorious radiation! Then the Spirit will increasingly reproduce Jesus' own glorious beauty in your life. Via this new approach, Jos Douma knows how to touch and articulate the core of the Christian faith. In doing so, he shows how the Christian life is really worthy living.