affirmation

I Believe in Nature

by Florence Emmons

Also in Reflections: Money and the Spirit by Dan Hotchkiss and Too Close to Death by Elea Kemler

I believe in the orderly processes of the universe, which hold the planets in their orbits and control the activities of microscopic cells;

I believe in the pervading, impartial forces of nature through which destruction is made constructive;

I believe in the ever-changing beauty of the natural world, which brings joy and inspiration to many people;

I believe in the healing and restorative power of nature without which all living things would be in great jeopardy;

I believe in the profound lessons which nature teaches: lessons of struggle and adaptability, tenacity and purpose, endurance and growth, patience, balance, and the inevitability of cause and effect;

I believe in the hope and faith which nature gives to the observant through predictable, compensatory certainties: light after dark, warmth after cold, peaceful calm after lashing storm, and always the miracle of the sun, the rain, and the seed.

Florence Emmons was baptized at St. Paul's Universalist Church (now the Unitarian Universalist Church in Meriden, Connecticut) in 1912. She wrote this affirmation for an adult religious education class at the church in the 1970s. Since then, the text has been used in Sunday services and set to music. Emmons now lives with her husband in an assisted living facility; she celebrated her ninetieth birthday in November.

UU World XVII:2 (March/April 2003): 18