What do you think?
Rate this book
Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You: A Field Guide to the Bible
God's First Book: Nature
“I don’t think it is enough appreciated how much an outdoor book the Bible is,” wrote Wendell Berry, and author Daniel Cooperrider illustrates his point with beautiful narrative—like a stroll through the woods that grounds the mind and body.
Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You attends to the theological wonder of God's first book: nature. Examining creation through the lens of history, biblical story, philosophy, and a bit of hiking, author Daniel Cooperrider shares the renewing wisdom that comes when we study the earth and all its forms.
From the Prologue: “We’ve thought that scripture was the key to understanding nature, and not vice versa. We’ve forgotten how the book of scripture—as beautiful as it can be—is but the slimmest of volumes that make up the shortest of chapters in the epic, sprawling tome that is the book of nature.”
Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You invites the reader on mindful adventures, traversing rivers and mountains, studying clouds and trees. The book includes Cooperrider's award-winning essay, "Cloud of Witnesses," from the 2022 Writer's Digest Writing Competition.
“I don’t think it is enough appreciated how much an outdoor book the Bible is,” wrote Wendell Berry, and author Daniel Cooperrider illustrates his point with beautiful narrative—like a stroll through the woods that grounds the mind and body.
Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You attends to the theological wonder of God's first book: nature. Examining creation through the lens of history, biblical story, philosophy, and a bit of hiking, author Daniel Cooperrider shares the renewing wisdom that comes when we study the earth and all its forms.
From the Prologue: “We’ve thought that scripture was the key to understanding nature, and not vice versa. We’ve forgotten how the book of scripture—as beautiful as it can be—is but the slimmest of volumes that make up the shortest of chapters in the epic, sprawling tome that is the book of nature.”
Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You invites the reader on mindful adventures, traversing rivers and mountains, studying clouds and trees. The book includes Cooperrider's award-winning essay, "Cloud of Witnesses," from the 2022 Writer's Digest Writing Competition.
- GenresReligionNonfictionNature
198 pages, Paperback
Published December 1, 2022
22 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 9, 2025
As we slip further, and more quickly, into this significant climate crisis, Daniel Cooperrider argues that we must turn our attention to creation, to consider what the Creator is telling us through things that so often escape human concern. In Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You: A Field Guide to the Bible, Cooperrider aims to reread the Bible through the lens of nature, in hopes that “by reading differently, we can live differently.” Specifically, he wants to transform our view of how God views creation so that we might find both beauty and meaning in nature, and consequently change the way we care for the Earth.
This short book is structured around the four classical elements, each corresponding to a certain aspect of the natural world that plays a prominent role in Scripture: water/rivers; fire/mountains; earth/trees; and air/clouds.
In Part 1, Copperrider makes a compelling case for what rivers can teach us about God. Upon seeking, yet never quite finding, the source of a creek near where he lives, he writes “The source of the sacred that we both see and don’t see, that we both hear and don’t hear, or maybe better to say that the closer we get to seeing and hearing the further we are from knowing and sensing from whence and from where” (p.24). What a beautiful way to talk about the mystery of the Divine. More concretely, he speaks of water as a beginning, a newness, a start of something—the creation of planet Earth or a rebirth in baptism. Thinking of rivers, specifically, reminds us that God does not simply lounge about in heaven, watching but not participating in creation: just as streams and brooks move down to reach their mouth, so too does God’s energy descend. Even more, God’s activity finds its ending source in the poor and humble, as in the incarnation, while Jesus’ teachings speak to the oppressed, the powerless.
Copperrider next turns to the element of fire, as seen through the portrayal of mountains in Scripture, “a way the fire element speaks to us and shapes and creates spiritual and scriptural landscape, contour, context, and meaning” (p.52). The element/natural phenomenon pairing here seems forced; the book would be just as strong—stronger, probably—by leaving aside the elements. Fire inevitably appears in this section as God speaks to Moses in the burning bush, but it is through mountains that Cooperrider makes his point: mountains are at the same time a place where humans encounter God, and humans remain apart from God, unable to truly grasp the mystery of the Creator. Mountains not only represent the gulf between human understanding of God and Godself, but also the space between the now and the not-yet. YHWH dwells on the mountain, and while we pursue deeper knowledge of the Creator, we also know that in this life, we will never fully see the glory of God.
Part 3 is devoted to earth; primarily, to the trees it yields. This is perhaps Cooperrider’s most disjointed section, winding its way from the creation stories to the Garden of Eden, Abraham napping, Elijah sleeping, and suddenly to the Tree of Life in Revelation. Although his attempt to connect Abraham offering the strangers—the ones who will reveal Sarah is pregnant—radical hospitality to the functioning of communities of trees is rather clumsy, he still provides interesting insights into Scripture. Perhaps the most poignant of these is found in Genesis 2, where Cooperrider points out that God “made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” . . . in other words, that trees have more value than what they produce. It’s when we begin to notice the beauty of the trees, to prioritize them the way the Artist of All does, that we can better determine the way they should be used—or if they should be used at all.
The book’s fourth and final part, on air as made visible through clouds, is exquisite. Cooperrider paints magnificent portraits through his words, playful, powerful, gracious, and marvelous, the adjectives he uses to describe the glimpses of God we can see by watching the sky. Attention is crucial, he stresses, as we care about what we give our time and devotion to. When we consider the clouds, we are reminded how positively they are depicted in Scripture—something I’d never really thought about before. Our ancestors are not the stars (those are often a metaphor for future generations) but something closer, the great cloud of witnesses described in Hebrews. And, of course, the Savior comes on the clouds of heaven, and if we pay close attention to the sky, this reminder is also present: the rays of sun streaming through the clouds as twilight nears are often referred to as “Jesus rays.”
Throughout the book, what Cooperrider does best is tempt the reader into creation. His clear, vivid descriptions of what he sees as he seeks the river’s source; his recalling of the smells of a Vermont mountain, the “incense that attaches to your pores,” as his friend calls it; his evocation of his favorite tree, “a pine-green deep enough with the pigment of life to withstand even the coldest of winters”; the seahorses, phoenixes, and dragons he sees take shape in the clouds. His writing makes me itch to wander the stoney peaks I see outside my window, turning over rocks as I go. I’m ready to spend a night outside, beneath a tree, while I’ve already begun to chart the sky from my rooftop.
As I venture into nature, the ties he makes to Scripture—to Moses and Abraham, Genesis and the Psalms, Jesus and the coming Reign of God—might not spring to the forefront of my mind. But I will know that I am dwelling in the Presence, I will feel God saturating every corner of creation. This connection to the cosmos will in fact cause Scripture to resonate differently with me, and in turn nudge me to view all that surrounds me in a different light.
In this way, the book achieves its purpose: to consider what the Creator is telling us about creation, so that we might in turn offer creation the care it deserves.
This short book is structured around the four classical elements, each corresponding to a certain aspect of the natural world that plays a prominent role in Scripture: water/rivers; fire/mountains; earth/trees; and air/clouds.
In Part 1, Copperrider makes a compelling case for what rivers can teach us about God. Upon seeking, yet never quite finding, the source of a creek near where he lives, he writes “The source of the sacred that we both see and don’t see, that we both hear and don’t hear, or maybe better to say that the closer we get to seeing and hearing the further we are from knowing and sensing from whence and from where” (p.24). What a beautiful way to talk about the mystery of the Divine. More concretely, he speaks of water as a beginning, a newness, a start of something—the creation of planet Earth or a rebirth in baptism. Thinking of rivers, specifically, reminds us that God does not simply lounge about in heaven, watching but not participating in creation: just as streams and brooks move down to reach their mouth, so too does God’s energy descend. Even more, God’s activity finds its ending source in the poor and humble, as in the incarnation, while Jesus’ teachings speak to the oppressed, the powerless.
Copperrider next turns to the element of fire, as seen through the portrayal of mountains in Scripture, “a way the fire element speaks to us and shapes and creates spiritual and scriptural landscape, contour, context, and meaning” (p.52). The element/natural phenomenon pairing here seems forced; the book would be just as strong—stronger, probably—by leaving aside the elements. Fire inevitably appears in this section as God speaks to Moses in the burning bush, but it is through mountains that Cooperrider makes his point: mountains are at the same time a place where humans encounter God, and humans remain apart from God, unable to truly grasp the mystery of the Creator. Mountains not only represent the gulf between human understanding of God and Godself, but also the space between the now and the not-yet. YHWH dwells on the mountain, and while we pursue deeper knowledge of the Creator, we also know that in this life, we will never fully see the glory of God.
Part 3 is devoted to earth; primarily, to the trees it yields. This is perhaps Cooperrider’s most disjointed section, winding its way from the creation stories to the Garden of Eden, Abraham napping, Elijah sleeping, and suddenly to the Tree of Life in Revelation. Although his attempt to connect Abraham offering the strangers—the ones who will reveal Sarah is pregnant—radical hospitality to the functioning of communities of trees is rather clumsy, he still provides interesting insights into Scripture. Perhaps the most poignant of these is found in Genesis 2, where Cooperrider points out that God “made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” . . . in other words, that trees have more value than what they produce. It’s when we begin to notice the beauty of the trees, to prioritize them the way the Artist of All does, that we can better determine the way they should be used—or if they should be used at all.
The book’s fourth and final part, on air as made visible through clouds, is exquisite. Cooperrider paints magnificent portraits through his words, playful, powerful, gracious, and marvelous, the adjectives he uses to describe the glimpses of God we can see by watching the sky. Attention is crucial, he stresses, as we care about what we give our time and devotion to. When we consider the clouds, we are reminded how positively they are depicted in Scripture—something I’d never really thought about before. Our ancestors are not the stars (those are often a metaphor for future generations) but something closer, the great cloud of witnesses described in Hebrews. And, of course, the Savior comes on the clouds of heaven, and if we pay close attention to the sky, this reminder is also present: the rays of sun streaming through the clouds as twilight nears are often referred to as “Jesus rays.”
Throughout the book, what Cooperrider does best is tempt the reader into creation. His clear, vivid descriptions of what he sees as he seeks the river’s source; his recalling of the smells of a Vermont mountain, the “incense that attaches to your pores,” as his friend calls it; his evocation of his favorite tree, “a pine-green deep enough with the pigment of life to withstand even the coldest of winters”; the seahorses, phoenixes, and dragons he sees take shape in the clouds. His writing makes me itch to wander the stoney peaks I see outside my window, turning over rocks as I go. I’m ready to spend a night outside, beneath a tree, while I’ve already begun to chart the sky from my rooftop.
As I venture into nature, the ties he makes to Scripture—to Moses and Abraham, Genesis and the Psalms, Jesus and the coming Reign of God—might not spring to the forefront of my mind. But I will know that I am dwelling in the Presence, I will feel God saturating every corner of creation. This connection to the cosmos will in fact cause Scripture to resonate differently with me, and in turn nudge me to view all that surrounds me in a different light.
In this way, the book achieves its purpose: to consider what the Creator is telling us about creation, so that we might in turn offer creation the care it deserves.
December 4, 2022
This book is a tour de force and sublimely beautiful exploration of nature and the Bible! It’s amazing work for even the most accomplished author and even more so when you consider this is first work, thank you Daniel Cooperrider (my brother!) for sharing this bountiful gift with the world. I loved it so much 🙏 I would highly recommend to all
October 1, 2023
The Psalmist declares:
O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
There is the sea, great and wide;
creeping things innumerable are there,
living things both small and great. (Ps. 104:24-25).
I'm not sure how I would describe my connection to nature, but when I do find a certain affinity to the natural world. I grew up in the shadow of Mount Shasta and while I'm not a camper, I enjoy spending time outdoors. I've been blessed to spend time among the redwoods and sequoias, at the coast of Oregon and California, and now the lakeshores in Michigan and neighboring states. When I'm out in nature, I do feel the presence of the Creator. So, I can appreciate the words of the Psalmist and other biblical writers who ponder the majesty of God's creation.
Although one can profitably view nature through the lens of Scripture, Daniel Cooperrider has chosen to view scripture through the lens of nature. He does so in a way that is inviting and thought-provoking. It's beautifully written and thus enjoyable to read. I think I will emphasize the word enjoyable because I did enjoy reading "Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You."
The author of "Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You: A Field Guide to the Bible," Daniel Cooperrideris first of all a pastor in the United Church of Christ. He is also a self-described fly-fisher and forager. He draws from his experiences in nature while living and serving churches in Vermont and now in what he notes is the "edge of the Driftless Area in Madison, Wisconsin." The word "driftless" is explained late in the book as a region where glaciation did not take place. He also notes that he lives on Ho-Chunk land, acknowledging the indigenous people who were present before European settlement.
The starting premise is the concept of God's two books --- Scripture and Nature --- both of which reveal something of God. While trained to look for God in Scripture, he notes that his congregation in Vermont slowly taught him a different way of reading for God, and that was not only in Scripture but also in nature. That his church taught him "that the church is not just a place to read and interpret the written scriptures of God, but a place to read and interpret the expressions of God that emanate constantly and from every corner of God's creation." (p. 3). Being that I've embraced a lot of Barthian theology, and knowing that Barth was not a fan of natural theology, I can be leery of putting too much stock in nature. However, experience has suggested that if I'm open to nature I can see something of God present there. In this book, Cooperrider invites us to pay attention to the witness of nature, that other book of God. That idea of the two books has a very ancient pedigree that includes Augustine, Maximus the Confessor, Hildegaard, Thomas Aquinas, and many more.
The subtitle of Cooperrider's book is instructive. He offers it as a field guide to the Bible. While he welcomes people using the book to explore the world, his "aim here is not to document and describe the flora and fauna recorded in the Bible. Maim is to reread the Bible in a living, breathing, yearning, determined search for God from the perspective of nature." (pp. 10-11). With that goal in mind he seeks to read scripture through the lens of the book of nature. In doing so he seeks to "foreground the presence of the natural world, and to focus on creation and the more-than-human drama of life as it presents itself in its elemental forms" (p. 11). With that in mind, he divides the book into four major sections reflecting the four classical elements of water, fire, earth, and air. Rather than using those four words as section titles, he uses instead Rivers (water). Mountains (Fire), Trees (Earth), and Clouds (air). Each section has four chapters that explore these concepts.
Using these concepts as the way to enter Scripture we can see things present in Scripture that we might miss otherwise. He begins with water because we begin life in water, both physically and spiritually. He points out, relevantly, that water is one of the most important environmental issues of our time. While we are born out of water and composed bodily of water, Scripture begins in its open words with the Spirit of God moving across the waters. So that's the starting point.
While water might have biological primacy, cosmologically it is fire, since the Big Bang Theory envisions a great explosion of fire out of which the universe is born. It is fire that produces mountains, whether volcanoes or the movement of tectonic plates sitting on a molten core. Of Course, in the biblical story, God is often encountered on mountains. As is true of the first chapters, Cooperrider draws here from his own experience of mountains. He writes of the presence of mountains in scripture, that they "can be both occasions for theophany and intimate knowing of God, as well as occasions that reveal the immense gulf or gap in our knowledge of God" (p. 57). Of the latter consider Abraham's attempted sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah, Jesus' temptation by the devil while standing on a very high mountain, and finally, Elijah's experience while huddled in a cave on Mount Horeb. In the final chapter of this section, he points to Moses' experience of seeing the Promised Land from a mountaintop while in the wilderness. Cooperrieder writes "If you want to see paradise, the Bible seems to say at the end, go climb a mountain and look out, and shining through the landscape of the world, you just might glimpse it --- everything fitting together -- perfection perfected for a moment --- a panorama of the Promised Land --- this earth as the sanctuary, as the holy land, as la sainte terre, that it is" (p. 94).
From the mountains, he moves to the trees, which here stands in for the earth. He reminds us that in the second creation story, God creates Adam from the adamah, the humus or earth. It is good to remember that we are made from soil. We are, to draw from Jeremiah, "clay in the potter's hand." (. 95). As for the trees, we must go back to the Garden where God forms trees after forming Adam. He writes that "although trees and plants existed for hundreds of millions of years before humans, Genesis is right to intuit that our stories are fatefully entwined." (p. 98). When it comes to the trees, I acknowledge their witness, having spent time among the redwoods of California and the Sequoias. I'm amazed about how trees live in community, something I've known before, but which Cooperrider brings to our attention. Of course, you can't talk about trees and the bible without noting Abraham and Sarah's act of hospitality at the Oaks of Mamre. Then, there's the Tree of Life present both in Genesis and Revelation. Of it, Cooperrider writes that "in the biblical imagination, the Tree of Life is not just a little bit of the future. It is the future. Standing in for the whole evolutionary unfolding of life, for the whole generative cosmic itself, finding the Tree of Life flourishing at the end of time teaches us that our own future is inseparable from the larger, ecological community on which we are directly dependent" (p. 138). Indeed!
Finally, we get to Air, which is explored here in terms of the Clouds. Biblically, Cooperrider notes that air is connected to the spirit or the soul. Consider that in Genesis 2 God breathes life into the clay that becomes Adam. There is the Ruach, the Spirit, who hovers over the primordial waters. As for us, "our lives begin with a piercing birth cry as we gasp for our first breath, and our lives end when we stop breathing, as our last sigh dissipates and merges back into the universal reservoir of air" (p. 140). I really appreciated this last section focusing on the clouds, which Cooperrider points out we see negatively, and yet in the Bible clouds have a very positive presence. It's often from the clouds that God speaks. And then there's the bow God places in the clouds that serve as a reminder to God not to destroy the earth with a flood. Ecologically, those stratocumulus clouds that cover two-thirds of the earth serve to cool the earth. Unfortunately, they're disappearing, and thus their disappearance would be a great loss. Then there's the great cloud of witnesses that Hebrews speaks of that acknowledges our ancestors.
Ultimately, Cooperrider, in his epilogue, speaks of loving God through loving the world. As we read Scripture through the lens of nature, which opens our eyes to elements and dimensions of the biblical story that we can easily miss without that lens, Cooperrider also reminds us that there is an ecological crisis, especially of a climate crisis, that is present with us. On the day that I write this review, I read a story of the death of one hundred dolphins in the Amazon as the river water reached a record 102 degrees. May we pay attention to what is going on nature. Our survival as a species depends on it. The author concludes with this word concerning our time being an opportunity and urgent call to "fall more deeply in love with the earth . . . This, then, I believe, is the call of our times that is coming to us from the direction of the earth --- to love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind. To love God through loving the world" (p. 180).
"Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You" is both a timely book and a book that speaks to the heart, pointing us to nature so that in turn we may read and understand the Bible anew. Read, enjoy, and be blessed, for the creation is proclaiming the Glory of God.
O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
There is the sea, great and wide;
creeping things innumerable are there,
living things both small and great. (Ps. 104:24-25).
I'm not sure how I would describe my connection to nature, but when I do find a certain affinity to the natural world. I grew up in the shadow of Mount Shasta and while I'm not a camper, I enjoy spending time outdoors. I've been blessed to spend time among the redwoods and sequoias, at the coast of Oregon and California, and now the lakeshores in Michigan and neighboring states. When I'm out in nature, I do feel the presence of the Creator. So, I can appreciate the words of the Psalmist and other biblical writers who ponder the majesty of God's creation.
Although one can profitably view nature through the lens of Scripture, Daniel Cooperrider has chosen to view scripture through the lens of nature. He does so in a way that is inviting and thought-provoking. It's beautifully written and thus enjoyable to read. I think I will emphasize the word enjoyable because I did enjoy reading "Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You."
The author of "Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You: A Field Guide to the Bible," Daniel Cooperrideris first of all a pastor in the United Church of Christ. He is also a self-described fly-fisher and forager. He draws from his experiences in nature while living and serving churches in Vermont and now in what he notes is the "edge of the Driftless Area in Madison, Wisconsin." The word "driftless" is explained late in the book as a region where glaciation did not take place. He also notes that he lives on Ho-Chunk land, acknowledging the indigenous people who were present before European settlement.
The starting premise is the concept of God's two books --- Scripture and Nature --- both of which reveal something of God. While trained to look for God in Scripture, he notes that his congregation in Vermont slowly taught him a different way of reading for God, and that was not only in Scripture but also in nature. That his church taught him "that the church is not just a place to read and interpret the written scriptures of God, but a place to read and interpret the expressions of God that emanate constantly and from every corner of God's creation." (p. 3). Being that I've embraced a lot of Barthian theology, and knowing that Barth was not a fan of natural theology, I can be leery of putting too much stock in nature. However, experience has suggested that if I'm open to nature I can see something of God present there. In this book, Cooperrider invites us to pay attention to the witness of nature, that other book of God. That idea of the two books has a very ancient pedigree that includes Augustine, Maximus the Confessor, Hildegaard, Thomas Aquinas, and many more.
The subtitle of Cooperrider's book is instructive. He offers it as a field guide to the Bible. While he welcomes people using the book to explore the world, his "aim here is not to document and describe the flora and fauna recorded in the Bible. Maim is to reread the Bible in a living, breathing, yearning, determined search for God from the perspective of nature." (pp. 10-11). With that goal in mind he seeks to read scripture through the lens of the book of nature. In doing so he seeks to "foreground the presence of the natural world, and to focus on creation and the more-than-human drama of life as it presents itself in its elemental forms" (p. 11). With that in mind, he divides the book into four major sections reflecting the four classical elements of water, fire, earth, and air. Rather than using those four words as section titles, he uses instead Rivers (water). Mountains (Fire), Trees (Earth), and Clouds (air). Each section has four chapters that explore these concepts.
Using these concepts as the way to enter Scripture we can see things present in Scripture that we might miss otherwise. He begins with water because we begin life in water, both physically and spiritually. He points out, relevantly, that water is one of the most important environmental issues of our time. While we are born out of water and composed bodily of water, Scripture begins in its open words with the Spirit of God moving across the waters. So that's the starting point.
While water might have biological primacy, cosmologically it is fire, since the Big Bang Theory envisions a great explosion of fire out of which the universe is born. It is fire that produces mountains, whether volcanoes or the movement of tectonic plates sitting on a molten core. Of Course, in the biblical story, God is often encountered on mountains. As is true of the first chapters, Cooperrider draws here from his own experience of mountains. He writes of the presence of mountains in scripture, that they "can be both occasions for theophany and intimate knowing of God, as well as occasions that reveal the immense gulf or gap in our knowledge of God" (p. 57). Of the latter consider Abraham's attempted sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah, Jesus' temptation by the devil while standing on a very high mountain, and finally, Elijah's experience while huddled in a cave on Mount Horeb. In the final chapter of this section, he points to Moses' experience of seeing the Promised Land from a mountaintop while in the wilderness. Cooperrieder writes "If you want to see paradise, the Bible seems to say at the end, go climb a mountain and look out, and shining through the landscape of the world, you just might glimpse it --- everything fitting together -- perfection perfected for a moment --- a panorama of the Promised Land --- this earth as the sanctuary, as the holy land, as la sainte terre, that it is" (p. 94).
From the mountains, he moves to the trees, which here stands in for the earth. He reminds us that in the second creation story, God creates Adam from the adamah, the humus or earth. It is good to remember that we are made from soil. We are, to draw from Jeremiah, "clay in the potter's hand." (. 95). As for the trees, we must go back to the Garden where God forms trees after forming Adam. He writes that "although trees and plants existed for hundreds of millions of years before humans, Genesis is right to intuit that our stories are fatefully entwined." (p. 98). When it comes to the trees, I acknowledge their witness, having spent time among the redwoods of California and the Sequoias. I'm amazed about how trees live in community, something I've known before, but which Cooperrider brings to our attention. Of course, you can't talk about trees and the bible without noting Abraham and Sarah's act of hospitality at the Oaks of Mamre. Then, there's the Tree of Life present both in Genesis and Revelation. Of it, Cooperrider writes that "in the biblical imagination, the Tree of Life is not just a little bit of the future. It is the future. Standing in for the whole evolutionary unfolding of life, for the whole generative cosmic itself, finding the Tree of Life flourishing at the end of time teaches us that our own future is inseparable from the larger, ecological community on which we are directly dependent" (p. 138). Indeed!
Finally, we get to Air, which is explored here in terms of the Clouds. Biblically, Cooperrider notes that air is connected to the spirit or the soul. Consider that in Genesis 2 God breathes life into the clay that becomes Adam. There is the Ruach, the Spirit, who hovers over the primordial waters. As for us, "our lives begin with a piercing birth cry as we gasp for our first breath, and our lives end when we stop breathing, as our last sigh dissipates and merges back into the universal reservoir of air" (p. 140). I really appreciated this last section focusing on the clouds, which Cooperrider points out we see negatively, and yet in the Bible clouds have a very positive presence. It's often from the clouds that God speaks. And then there's the bow God places in the clouds that serve as a reminder to God not to destroy the earth with a flood. Ecologically, those stratocumulus clouds that cover two-thirds of the earth serve to cool the earth. Unfortunately, they're disappearing, and thus their disappearance would be a great loss. Then there's the great cloud of witnesses that Hebrews speaks of that acknowledges our ancestors.
Ultimately, Cooperrider, in his epilogue, speaks of loving God through loving the world. As we read Scripture through the lens of nature, which opens our eyes to elements and dimensions of the biblical story that we can easily miss without that lens, Cooperrider also reminds us that there is an ecological crisis, especially of a climate crisis, that is present with us. On the day that I write this review, I read a story of the death of one hundred dolphins in the Amazon as the river water reached a record 102 degrees. May we pay attention to what is going on nature. Our survival as a species depends on it. The author concludes with this word concerning our time being an opportunity and urgent call to "fall more deeply in love with the earth . . . This, then, I believe, is the call of our times that is coming to us from the direction of the earth --- to love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind. To love God through loving the world" (p. 180).
"Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You" is both a timely book and a book that speaks to the heart, pointing us to nature so that in turn we may read and understand the Bible anew. Read, enjoy, and be blessed, for the creation is proclaiming the Glory of God.
Read
March 16, 2025This was different than I’d imagined. I’m guessing if you are new to this subject, this would be a really lovely starting point.
Read
June 10, 2023My aim is to reread the Bible in a living, breathing, yearning, determined search for God from the perspective of nature. My aim is not to read the book of nature through the lens of scripture, as has been a major trend in Christian theology, but the opposite - to read the book of scripture through the lens of the book of nature, to foreground the presence of the natural world, and to focus on creation and the more-than-human drama of life as it presents itself in its elemental forms. 11
I won't give this a star rating, and that may be my new rule for certain books, or for books where I know of the writer. What I appreciate most from this book is that it opened my eyes to see the world, without taking it for granted. It's so easy to lose sight of nature, especially during the daily grind. I've been taking more time to gaze up into the trees, to appreciate the warm breeze, the song of the birds, and the fragrance of Spring. It's made me slow down and relax more.
The book is divided into 4 sections: rivers (water), mountains (fire), trees (earth), and clouds (air). My favorite part was the section on trees as I grew up in a woodsy, forested area. When you grow up surrounded by nature, with slow days and ample time to admire trees (the shade they provide, their colorful leaves in the Fall, the breezes rustling their leaves, all of that and more) it becomes a spiritual experience. Sprinkled throughout, or maybe on tangential lines, Daniel Cooperrider tosses around philosophical crumbs such as thoughts on the word saunter. The next time you saunter through the woods think on this:
"Do you know the origin of that word 'saunter'? It's a beautiful word. Away back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, "A la sainte terre.' 'To the Holy Land.' And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently not 'hike' through them. " John Muir 88
Interesting to note, while reading this book, I've also been reading 2 other books and these other books tied in with this one, as each had strong connections with mountains and trees. In the Body of the World by Eve Ensler (review soon to come), Eve shares a spiritual tree moment and in I Am, I Am, I Am, 17 Brushes With Death by Maggie O'Farrell, there are several strong mountain moments.
This book will lead readers to look more closely at the natural, surrounding world, while basking in it's beauty. Another resonating theme is that when you come to know and love some living thing you will take better care of it, protect it even. A book inspiring readers to take better care of our Earth is definitely a goodread.
Studies show that those recovering in a hospital after surgery recover quicker and with less depression if they have a view of trees from their room. 125
Every tree is a tree of life. 138
I won't give this a star rating, and that may be my new rule for certain books, or for books where I know of the writer. What I appreciate most from this book is that it opened my eyes to see the world, without taking it for granted. It's so easy to lose sight of nature, especially during the daily grind. I've been taking more time to gaze up into the trees, to appreciate the warm breeze, the song of the birds, and the fragrance of Spring. It's made me slow down and relax more.
The book is divided into 4 sections: rivers (water), mountains (fire), trees (earth), and clouds (air). My favorite part was the section on trees as I grew up in a woodsy, forested area. When you grow up surrounded by nature, with slow days and ample time to admire trees (the shade they provide, their colorful leaves in the Fall, the breezes rustling their leaves, all of that and more) it becomes a spiritual experience. Sprinkled throughout, or maybe on tangential lines, Daniel Cooperrider tosses around philosophical crumbs such as thoughts on the word saunter. The next time you saunter through the woods think on this:
"Do you know the origin of that word 'saunter'? It's a beautiful word. Away back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, "A la sainte terre.' 'To the Holy Land.' And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently not 'hike' through them. " John Muir 88
Interesting to note, while reading this book, I've also been reading 2 other books and these other books tied in with this one, as each had strong connections with mountains and trees. In the Body of the World by Eve Ensler (review soon to come), Eve shares a spiritual tree moment and in I Am, I Am, I Am, 17 Brushes With Death by Maggie O'Farrell, there are several strong mountain moments.
This book will lead readers to look more closely at the natural, surrounding world, while basking in it's beauty. Another resonating theme is that when you come to know and love some living thing you will take better care of it, protect it even. A book inspiring readers to take better care of our Earth is definitely a goodread.
Studies show that those recovering in a hospital after surgery recover quicker and with less depression if they have a view of trees from their room. 125
Every tree is a tree of life. 138
December 8, 2022
Evocative, wonder filled, deeply spiritual, and overflowing with stories that will make you want to get outside and start paying attention to Creation. Cooperrider writes with the sharp mind of a theologian and seasoned naturalist, and with the soft heart of a pastor and poet. He takes the reader deep into ancient sacred stories as well as his own sacred experiences, both with the powerful effect of orienting us toward God. Whereas other ecological texts start with how we are destroying the earth and shoehorns God and Christian stewardship into it, this book starts with God, makes you fall in love with the intricacies of the natural world, and then reminds you of the devastating effects of what happens when we lose sight of our call to care for God’s creation. Each essay is like peering into a tide pool brimming with underwater life and while it’s a relatively quick read, it is one that I will return to again and again.
October 31, 2024
Speak With the Earth and It Will Teach You is a book speaking to the theological wonder of God's book of nature, traversing rivers and mountains, studying clouds and trees.
It is a book that brings awareness to the greediness of humanity, leading to the destruction of our natural habitat which brings on our droughts, floods, and eventually destroying earth.
This book offers a beauty of nature that draws us into God's wonder, a wonder that has no judgment, and in the words of Second-century Rabbi Tarfon, "It is not up to you to finish the work of perfecting the world but neither are you free to avoid it!"
Our real work is to work towards "perfection of the world," or in the words of Jesus, "the Kingdom of God!" The earth is in our hands, let us be about enjoying our nature and protecting it! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!
==========================
May the work of
“figuring people out”
Never replace the work of knowing people
And loving people
And giving them room
To confound
And inspire
And surprise me
---------------------------------------------------------
30th Anniversary Celebration
Victor’s Pizza
6 p.m.
November 9, 2024
WE ARE BEGGARS! WE REALLY NEED MONEY--Really Badly At the moment!
FOR FOOD, SOCKS, HARM REDUCTION AND OTHER SERVICES!
P.O. Box 642656
415-305-2124
temenos@gmail.com
pay pal
www.temenos.org
We are in desperate need now!
(Temenos and Dr. River seek to remain accessible to everyone. We do not endorse particular causes, political parties, or candidates, or take part in public controversies, whether religious, political or social--Our pastoral ministry is to everyone!
Homeless Lives Matter!
Join us in Protest Against the Cruelty of the City of San Francisco!
Thursday, November 10, 2024
11:15 a.m
Polk side of City Hall
==================
Temenos Catholic Worker
P.O. Box 642656
San Francisco, CA 94164
Dr. River Damien Carlos Sims, D.Min, D.S.T.
==========================
“People ask me why do you write about food,
and eating and drinking. Why don’t you write
about the struggle for power and security, and
about love, the way the others do? The easiest answer
is to say that, like most other humans I am hungry (M.F. Fisher!”
June 7, 2024
Many times when I read a book, it occurs to me that I could have written a book as good. This book is a book I truly wish I would have written.
The author spends time developing, fleshing out aspects of history, theology, philosophy, and more, of each of the elements of nature; water (especially rivers) mountains and trees. And clouds.
If you are wondering what nature could teach you - or save you from - take a look at these meandering (in a good sense) thoughts about the world around us.
There are many great observations here, but consider this line from the final page; "We seem to be in love with something other than the earth and its flourishing".
You have to wonder what that might be. And why so many of us are so eager to offer our beautiful, irreplaceable earth in exchange for it.
My thanks to Speakeasy for introducing me to this book.
The author spends time developing, fleshing out aspects of history, theology, philosophy, and more, of each of the elements of nature; water (especially rivers) mountains and trees. And clouds.
If you are wondering what nature could teach you - or save you from - take a look at these meandering (in a good sense) thoughts about the world around us.
There are many great observations here, but consider this line from the final page; "We seem to be in love with something other than the earth and its flourishing".
You have to wonder what that might be. And why so many of us are so eager to offer our beautiful, irreplaceable earth in exchange for it.
My thanks to Speakeasy for introducing me to this book.
November 13, 2025
In this refreshing and beautifully-written book, Daniel Cooperrider meditates on nature and its place in the Bible. He asserts that the Bible and nature are two books given to us by God to know him. Turns out, the Biblical references to rivers, mountains, trees and clouds, the four sections of the book, are considerable and important. The author personalizes this approach by describing his exploration around the areas of Vermont and Wisconsin where he has lived.
Expansive with his sources for thinking about nature and the Bible, he includes quotes ancient and modern, from a traditional Iranian blessing to Mary Oliver.
He invites readers to open their eyes anew to God's creation wherever they are, and exhorts us to "love God through loving the earth". Lots of food for thought here.
Expansive with his sources for thinking about nature and the Bible, he includes quotes ancient and modern, from a traditional Iranian blessing to Mary Oliver.
He invites readers to open their eyes anew to God's creation wherever they are, and exhorts us to "love God through loving the earth". Lots of food for thought here.
May 17, 2024
Finally finished this lol - found it at the Lost & Found at Christ Episcopal last semester and the title intrigued me. It was a well-written argument for the faith-driven love of the natural world, seen through the lenses of the four elements. He has lots of beautiful descriptions of nature and some great analyses passages.
It was a tad too hippie-dippy for me (he celebrates his daughter's "Faye Day" every full moon instead of her birthday - cue the eye roll) and was occasionally a bittttt too radical (should God and the natural world really be placed on the same level...?) and some of the phrasing could be repetitive. But in general I enjoyed this and thought it was quite lovely. Now FINALLY onto some fiction!!!
It was a tad too hippie-dippy for me (he celebrates his daughter's "Faye Day" every full moon instead of her birthday - cue the eye roll) and was occasionally a bittttt too radical (should God and the natural world really be placed on the same level...?) and some of the phrasing could be repetitive. But in general I enjoyed this and thought it was quite lovely. Now FINALLY onto some fiction!!!
November 28, 2023
How do you mark the calendar? Is it Christ the King Sunday or the full yellow bloom of a witch hazel?For those of us who have grown impatient with the church's inward focus, Cooperrider's ruminative book opens us up to a web of life theology that is both modern and tucked inside the old Bible texts. He braids together scientifically informed Bible interpretation and personal experience of the natural world using rivers, mountains, trees, and clouds as exemplars of God and the sacred in our world.
March 26, 2024
Interesting take to be a field guide of sorts. Very appealing since the book was a combination of my favorite topics!
Didn’t always flow or connect for me but I still appreciate having read it. And, he just announced another book is coming so I look forward to that!
Didn’t always flow or connect for me but I still appreciate having read it. And, he just announced another book is coming so I look forward to that!
May 1, 2024
A lovely meditation of earth and our role in caring for it.
July 30, 2025
Beautifully written, captivating and engaging. This book will connect God’s word and God’s creation in a way that will have you reaching for a highlighter throughout!
February 4, 2024
Gifted to me by JM, this is an inspirational book teaching about how nature informs our faith & speaks God's words. I loved the writing about trees. I am hopeful to commune more with the Creator in His creation and to allow the earth to teach me.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews