Don’t tell me about nature

Recently, there was a thread on a mailing list that I follow about how Druids should rever nature. About how it’s not right to use synthetic incense or products, and we should separate ourselves from the urban world.

Umm … not for me.

That may be fine for people who think that, but not for me. I’m an urban Druid who has lived in cities for more than half my life …. cities ARE natural. I mean, humans built them … and humans are natural. Artificial limbs and pacemakers aside, we are natural beings.  The materials used to create the cities all came from natural sources.  If you think about it, even stuff that’s made in a lab is made from originally natural sources.  e=mc^2 and all that … we don’t make something from nothing.

True, I can sit and admire the awe of the majesty of a forest of redwoods (they are amazing trees), but I can also sit and admire the majesty of a chapel in the middle of a city.  The image in this post is of the Dom in Cologne in Germany.  It is …. stunning, amazing and inspiring.

It is amazing what people can create. It is this natural talent, this natural ability, this natural creativity that I admire in cities. Yes, there are areas that show off the worst of humanity, but there are also areas that show of the best of the inhabitants of this planet … human and other.

Still, there are things that I try to avoid … for instance, I don’t like landfills, so I try to reduce my waste (we don’t use paper towels in my house, rarely use paper napkins, and usually bring our own bags, for example).

There are things in nature that I try to avoid as well!  Kudzu, for example, is native to some areas and an anathema to others … it’s all a matter of fitting in.

I do believe that there’s a balance between urban and rural that we should strive for.  It’s all about balance.