Natural Wisdom

When I reflect on the ease with which folly comes to all of us, and how alien wisdom seems to be to our ways of collective living, I think of how natural wisdom is to the non-human elements of creation.

In 2017 I was given the opportunity to spend three weeks on an expedition ship exploring the coastal regions of Antarctica and the neighbouring islands. As any time in nature can be if we are fully present to it, this experience offered me a powerful reminder of the naturalness of wisdom that is inherent in alignment with our being.

Of all the species of birds and mammals I saw on this trip, none was more amazing than the Wandering Albatross. With a wingspan of up to 11.5 feet (3.5 m), these giant birds spend years on the wing without ever once touching land or stopping to rest on the water – easily covering 800 miles a day (1,300 km) at sustained speeds of 50 mph (80 km/h) or greater. Distances covered by this albatross are hard to measure, but one was tracked and documented as travelling 4,000 miles (6,500 km) in twelve days, another with making a complete circumnavigation of earth in just 46 days. Perhaps most astoundingly, they do this without flapping their wings. Scientists describe this as dynamic soaring – a form of flight that uses extremely little energy (less than they spend sitting on the ground) and involves flying into the wind in a way that allows them to soar at three times the speed of the wind. 

This, however, is not the albatross’s only astounding ability. They are also expert navigators and weather forecasters. In stable weather conditions, they have been tracked making almost ruler-straight trips from distant foraging areas several thousand miles away, maintaining their course by means of an internal magnetic reckoning that fixes their position relative to the earth’s magnetic field. Weather prediction is also crucial, since dynamic soaring requires that the wind speed be higher than 18 mph (29 km/h). The only time they land on water is if they are becalmed, but because getting back in flight from the water consumes so much energy, they rely on sophisticated barometric sensors to choose their direction up to 24 hours prior to the arrival of a change of weather, thereby following a course that offers the highest probability of sustained winds.

So at home are these birds in flight that they spend the first six of their years without ever touching land. And then they somehow find their way home to their breeding ground on the same rocky outcrop of the same island in the vastness of the Southern Ocean each time the breeding cycle calls them back home. 

What can we say about these amazing birds? They are not likely very good at explaining quantum physics or writing poems but they do seem to be at one with what they were created to be and appear to tap into a deep source of wisdom that flows from that oneness. Or perhaps we can simply say that they appear to be aligned with the Spirit of Wisdom that inhabits all of creation and is the ground of everything that exists.

The Wisdom of Nature

But albatrosses are not unique in the deep sources of wisdom that they tap into. Wherever we turn in nature, we see the same picture. 

Consider the common ant. In spite of possessing the super-human ability to lift and carry 100 times its body weight, it can be swept away by a single drop of water. However, the most astounding ability of these little creatures is not weightlifting but their capacity to form a coordinated super-organism that can accomplish things no individual ant could ever accomplish. Acting together they have the ability, for example, to make a living bridge by clasping onto each other’s limbs as they stretch across a chasm – adjusting the bridge shape moment-by-moment to maximize efficiency and strength. 

Individual ants are like the neurons in our brain – each one being quite limited in what it can do but in combination, becoming a formidable force. Just imagine if humans were to regularly tap into the same wisdom and were willing to cooperate in the same way!

Or consider the wisdom of plants. While animals can choose their environments, plants must be able to adapt to constantly changing conditions without being able to move. Because of this, plants have evolved remarkably complex sensory systems – forms of sight, smell, taste, touch and memory – that allow them to be aware of their environment and its patterns of change, and then adapt. 

Adaptation is a fundamental component of the wisdom of everything that has life. In plants, leaf size represents an adaptation to patterns of temperature fluctuation (smaller leaves coping better with larger fluctuations than larger leaves), the availability of water, and the need to capture an optimal amount of sunlight for conversion into the chemical energy that they require for life.  

Leaf shape reflects a myriad of tiny adaptations over evolutionary time, each small adaptation then genetically passed on to future generations. An individual plant may then go even further to change its leaf characteristics to adapt to changes in its immediate environment. Under present conditions of dramatic climate change, these adaptations may prove to be their salvation and ours. However, as we currently witness the extinction of many species of plants and animals each year, we recognize the limits of adaptation, even in the realms of nature that seem to be most deeply attuned to the Spirit of Wisdom that inhabits all of creation. 

Natural Alignment

Nature reflects the wisdom of the Spirit of Wisdom because nature remains fundamentally aligned with the source from which it flows and by which it is sustained. The alignment does not guarantee its survival. Scientists suggest that the cause of the extinction of dinosaurs was likely dramatic climate and geological changes that interrupted their food supply. But these same changes allowed ants to survive and thrive. So, survival of any one species is not guaranteed. However, tapping into the cosmic ground of wisdom does guarantee that things realize more of the fullness of being that is theirs by virtue of their very existence.  

In all of creation, alignment with the Spirit of Wisdom that is the ground of our being is a challenge only for humans. Tulips, rocks, bacteria, wolves, trees, stars and ants all naturally tap into the ground of their being and the source that guides their existence. Only humans seem to lose touch with this state of alignment. Misalignment seems to be our default state. Theologians suggest that this is a result of sin. Using slightly different language, I would simply describe it as a consequence of alienation from the truth of ourselves and from the Spirit of Wisdom within whom we exist and have our being. 

The Bible speaks of creation groaning as it waits in pain for its liberation from the bondage of decay. This suggests that the whole of creation, not just humans, may also lack full alignment with its source and may not yet experience its fullness of being. However, it seems to me that the non-human world is more closely aligned with our common source than humans, this being why wisdom is in such short supply amongst those of us who think of ourselves as the capstone of creation. 

We have so much to learn from what St. Francis of Assisi described as Brothers Moon, Wind, Air and Fire; Sisters Sun and Stars; and Mother Earth. But that learning will never meaningfully happen as long as we think of them as objects separate from us that exist for our pleasure and consumption. It will require that we first begin to see them as our brothers and sisters. It will require that we see and know our oneness with all who share earth as our home. 

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2021 © Dr. David G. Benner
Adapted from Living Wisdom (2019)

• What do I know of natural wisdom in the non-human realm of nature?

• What could I learn from nature as a wisdom teacher?

• How would my life be different if I were to live more deeply aligned with the truth of my being?

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For more on the importance, understanding and living of wisdom, see Dr. Benner’s book, Living Wisdom (2019).

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