What an experience those amazing Northern Lights were across much of the world recently, eh? Not only here in North America, but in parts of Latin America, Europe, and even in Japan, they evoked a sense of wow and wonder across languages and cultures. To me, they were a stellar example of Nature’s University.
Nature’s University? That’s a concept I was introduced to by the late Chief Walking Buffalo in the mid-1960s when my wife and I began our association with the Stoney Nakoda Nation at Morley. Over many meals together, he captivated us with stories of his worldwide travels with Moral Re-Armament (MRA, now known as Initiatives of Change). And the course that stood out to him? Harmony 101!
One enduring lesson in that course is perfectly summarized in his memorable words: “Consider all the different kinds of trees and plants there are in the forest. There are poplars, spruce, pine, willow, cranberry, and a wide variety of flowers. But they don’t fight with each other. They get along together just fine; they live in harmony.” Amidst their diversity, there is a sense of oneness – of wazin îchinabi in his language.
I was reflecting on that the other day with our Cochrane coffee companion, Pat Verge, an accomplished writer whose life is an inspiring expression of her religious affiliation with the Bahá’í Faith. That faith tradition strongly emphasizes unity in diversity, that we are all “members of one human family – children of one Heavenly Father,” as the classic Bahá’í writer ‘Abdu’l-Bahá put it. She shared with me a quote from his The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p.41, as an example of how Nature’s University knows no boundaries:
“Consider the flowers of a garden. Though differing in kind, color, form and shape, yet, inasmuch as they are refreshed by the waters of one spring, revived by the breath of one wind, invigorated by the rays of one sun, this diversity increaseth their charm and addeth unto their beauty. How unpleasing to the eye if all the flowers and plants, the leaves and blossoms, the fruit, the branches and the trees of that garden were all of the same shape and color! Diversity of hues, form and shape enricheth and adorneth the garden, and heighteneth the effect thereof. In like manner, when divers shades of thought, temperament and character, are brought together under the power and influence of one central agency, the beauty and glory of human perfection will be revealed and made manifest.”
Ah yes, Harmony 101 at Nature’s University! Thank you, Walking Buffalo and Pat Verge. Now let us walk with one another in perfect harmony!
© 2024 Warren Harbeck
