Volume XII, Number III

In this issue of KidSpirit, writers and artists take a deep dive into the natural world and how it impacts our lives today. What constitutes nature? How can it connect us to others? How have we affected it with our actions? Explore this topic with contributors around the planet, then take some time to examine your own thoughts and experiences.

1. In this season’s Big Question article, editor Fizza Raza examines the different ways that nature and humanity depend on one another to survive. In her piece, “Should We Serve Nature or Should Nature Serve Us?,” Fizza concludes that humanity should protect or restore the earth’s resources, climate, and wilderness, not just because we have damaged them, but also because they sustain us. She asserts that humanity does not need to stop all use of resources, but instead that “mankind can both rescue and strike a balance with nature.” What are the three most important ways you think humanity can change how we use nature? If these steps require people to change how they live, how would you convince them of the importance of doing so?

2. Michael Deschenes recalls his formative experience at a summer camp in the wilderness in his Interfaith Connections article, “We Are Part of Nature.” He discusses how he has learned to sustainably use the gifts of nature to survive, while also respecting and protecting it. What are some ways, big or small, you help the natural world? Are there any other steps you would like to take to do more?

3. In the Feature article “Nature: The Healing Gift We Ignore,” Emilija Krysén explores the many ways that going outside and engaging with nature can help us with our mental and physical health, creativity, and sense of community. Through analysis of several scientific studies, Emilija makes the case for changing our routines to include more activities in the natural world. What are a few ways you incorporate nature into your daily life? If you wish you could go outside more or see more of nature, what are the barriers to doing so? Are there ways you can overcome them?

4. David Haskell, a professor and writer who integrates scientific, literary, and contemplative studies of the natural world, contributes this issue’s PerSpectives article. In “Nature Is Kinship and Relationship,” David asks readers, and all humans, to consider ourselves just as much a part of nature as any wildlife or wilderness. He takes us through our own genealogical tree, and how “human body, mind, emotion, and action are partly made of trees, ocean, soil, and the many living beings that sustain us.” Describe a moment when you felt the “belonging” or “kinship” to nature that David discusses; it could be a meal, a hike, or even a time you learned something new (or perhaps when you read this article!). What made you sense the connection or experience your relationship with the natural world?