c deborah kunzie
“The American Indian is of the soil, whether it be the region of forests, plains, pueblos, or mesas. He fits into the landscape, for the hand that fashioned the continent also fashioned the man for his surroundings. He once grew as naturally as the wild sunflowers, he belongs just as the buffalo belonged…”
~Luther Standing Bear Oglala Sioux
To me, there is nothing more calming and peaceful than the waking hours of the day. The morning light is often diffused and soft. As I stand in the midst of the transformation from dark to light I realize it is time well spent.
If I had my way I would spend each and every morning in the vast landscape that God created, away from the chaos and fast paced world in which we live.
It is where I come alive and communicate with God and I do this better here in the center of Creation than sitting inside any church I have attended. In my earlier years I spent countless hours on church pews swinging my legs back and forth with no thought given to the man on the platform raising his voice and stomping his feet. I was raised in the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist organization and I knew at this early age it was not for me. I wanted to be outside, walking the creek beds and jumping over the fern covered stumps. When I was older I threw my Sunday go to meeting clothes to the curb and joined God outside in the natural world.
Photographing nature keeps me focused on the truly wonderful things of the world and witnessing God’s awesome handiwork.
I have read the Bible. Jesus never sat in a church where he talked to his Father. In fact he went away to the Garden of Gethsemane or to deserted Islands to pray. He was close to God in nature. So for me communing with my Creator is standing in the middle of it.
I have never walked into a church to be greeted by the open arms of an Osprey or the majestic Eagle fly so close to me I could feel the wind from its wings as I do when I walk through nature.
Nor have I witnessed any kind of spiritual scenery like the above photo, gazing over the tops of fashionable hats and hair sprayed heads.
Each time I experience the outdoors I am constantly amazed by the things I see.
Like that of an adult Eagle feeding her young and watching as the young one finds his way out of the nest to a nearby branch to view the world in front of him. Being there to see his first fledged into the air with those huge wings riding on air currents.
No church has ever given me that kind of joy and excitement and created such a love in me to keep me coming back day in and day out.
I hope God understands my thinking and that I choose to be inside the works of His Hands rather than inside the works of man.
About the image: This shot of an Osprey in the early morning hours carrying a branch to its nearby nest was photographed in heavy morning fog. The image is not edited or enhanced, it is exactly as I saw it.