The concept is really simple — a small table in a quiet corner of the living area, which is the site for a continually developing display of gatherings and gleanings from nature. The table can be covered with one or more coloured cloths (which might also be changed to represent each passing season) — they could be draped over pieces of timber or stone.
But this is not just about a table — it’s about walking, in the garden, along the street, in the park, in the bush, along the beach — collecting ‘visible imaginations’ of the manifold shapes and presences of nature. Our guiding principle could be the various kingdoms — stones and crystals, a jar of coloured earth; leaves and fruits and seeds; shells and bones and fur and feathers; treasures from our own lives… So, discovering wonder…
And it’s about talking. But it’s less important to explain or categorise things than to be amazed by diversity and variation. Questions are better than answers. Talking about things can lead us towards the processes of nature, and towards a mood of reverence towards its transformations, towards living and dying and regeneration.
And it’s about thinking. Again, not categorisation (which is the end of thinking), but in seeing the marvellous ‘thinginess’ of the world and its remarkable processes, to then let wonder and reverence lead us to thoughts about the wisdom-filled harmony present in nature and its kingdoms.
And it’s about being together, accompanying your child in a mood of devotion — a mood that is for your child and with your child, towards the world and for the world.
