The Lay Cistercian Review · Advent 2025 · Articles
A Personal Reflection on Nature as a Teacher of Simplicity
There is much agreement among Cistercian authors, both traditional and contemporary, that the spiritual value of simplicity is fundamental to one’s understanding of the Cistercian charism. The values that characterize Cistercian spirituality—silence, solitude, community, stability, prayer, manual labor—are all rooted in simplicity of life. The Cistercian reform of the twelfth century sought to restore the simple monastic life of the Benedictine tradition.
As I live daily my commitment to the Lay Cistercian way of life, I have come to recognize more fully that nature is also a teacher of my ongoing formation. My wife and I have been blessed to live in a rural area where farms and woodland areas fill the landscape.
My daily prayer includes quiet walks and time of stillness in our woods. I have become more in tune with the rhythms of creation and hear what it teaches in its simplicity. Nature invites me to join its praise of the Creator. In prayer, I give thanks for water, food, oxygen, and the warmth of the sun—gifts that sustain body and soul.
Nature reminds us of birth and death, showing how all things share in creation’s unfolding under God’s providence. The concluding days of nature’s season of Autumn remind me of my own dying. As I enter the liturgical season of Advent, I embrace again the mystery of the Incarnation and the coming of the Light and Life of all Creation. Everything in nature has a purpose in the Creator’s design. It teaches humility and trust. I am reminded to respect its beauty and quiet strength. In its simplicity, nature shares silence, stillness, and stability. It has become a spiritual companion on my Cistercian path. I find joy in the Psalms that celebrate nature, like Psalm 65:9–11:
2
The ends of the earth stand in awe
at the sight of your wonders.
The lands of sunrise and sunset
you fill with your joy.
You care for the earth, give it water;
you fill it with riches.
Your river in heaven brims over
to provide its grain.
And thus you provide for the earth;
you drench its furrows;
you level it, soften it with showers;
you bless its growth.
How to cite this article
Michael Johnson. “A Personal Reflection on Nature as a Teacher of Simplicity.” The Lay Cistercian Review 1, no. 1 (Advent 2025).