Your wild place is calling...

What's your wild? Do you hear it calling you?

Everyone has a wild place that beacons to them.

My wild is now a tranquil plot of off-grid land tucked in the national forest.

My rock climbing daughter hears the call from the cliffs of Yosemite and Smith Rocks.

Lakes and streams call out to my other daughter: "Get your kayak."

My son hears the call in peaceful hot springs--and in the thump of techno music.

The deep rumble of motorcycles calls my husband to mount his modern steed and cruise down twisty mountain roads. That's his call to the wild.

My oldest daughter delights in wilderness trails that lead to pristine lakes.

And my oldest son finds his wild space in his suburban backyard, grilling burgers and listening to bird song.

Wild places can be peaceful. Wild places can be thrilling. Wild places can be dangerous. But wild places can also heal us and make us whole.

For Cheryl Strayed, "wild" was the Pacific Crest Trail. She recounted her journey to and through the wilderness in her best-selling-book-made-movie Wild. The wilderness helped her grow and be brave.

Wild places can make us healthier, happier, and smarter. Cognitive psychologist David Strayer's research links time in nature to improved attention and brain function. He told National Geographic:

If you can have the experience of being in the moment for two or three days, it seems to produce a difference in qualitative thinking.

The National Geographic article that discusses research by Strayer and others is well worth the read. It turns out that we all need to spend time in the wild.

A few years ago, the BBC interviewed Paul Sandifer (former chief science adviser for NOAA (National Ocean Service at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) about a study he had conducted. Here's what he said:

I have long had a feeling that there were connections between exposure to the natural environment and improved physiological and psychological health.

Not only does being in nature -- away from urban areas -- improve wellbeing and mood. It also changes our values.

And while a lot of research has looks at the positive effect of nature -- the wild -- no one knows for sure why it helps us relax, be more creative, and be healthier. And that's OK with me. I don't always need to know why things work. And, apparently, neither does Strayer:

At the end of the day, we come out in nature not because the science says it does something to us, but because of how it makes us feel, he said.

Nature makes us feel connected with one another. With the Earth. And in my case, with the Intelligent Designer who I believed formed it. I agree with the psalmist who wrote:

The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.

The book of Job declares:

Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?

Head out to the wild places and hear what nature is saying to you.

Scripture: Psalm 19:1–2; Job 12: 7–9