Outside Readings-Chelsea Gilbert

In an article found online about Rachel Carson, a famous environmentalist, there is a specific quote from the book Lost Woods: The Discovered Writings of Rachel Carson that I believe directly relates to John Gatta's book Making Nature Sacred. Carson writes, "The exceeding beauty of the earth, in her splendor of life, yields a new thought with every petal. The hours when the mind is absorbed by beauty are the only hours when we really live. All else is illusion, or mere endurance." In Gatta's book he directly speaks about how nature provides the most calming, living experience of someone's life. He writes that we as human beings have yet to find the idea of nature fulfilling, so we have yet to be thankful for its beauty. It can easily be seen how Rachel Carson's writings and John Gattas writings go hand in hand. They both counteract each other with their persuasion and intelligence. "Both in space and time we seem to be brought somewhat near to that great fact-the mystery of mysteries-the first appearance of new beings on Earth." Rachel Carson's words here show us the connection she has with Belden Lane's book and how she relates her views on the environment to time and space as well. In class we learned about Lane's view on time and space and studied his diagram comparing the two. There is a great connection between Rachel Carson and the books that we were required to read in class.