Table 2.

Three responses to beauty by a person walking into a nature scene, illustrating the distinction of the sanctification path.

Mindless use of appreciation of beauty	Mindful use of appreciation of beauty	Spiritually infused appreciation of beauty
The person does not attend to her surroundings or notice the beauty around her and behaves as if blinders are on. “I am outdoors in nature.”	The person attends to her body and the surroundings: “I see the green trees and enjoy my body’s movement as I step on stones and feel the sun warming my left cheek. I enjoy the beauty of the glistening pond and the ripples in the water.”	The person attends to her body and surroundings and connects them to a larger whole: “I see the beauty of everything green and the shimmering light on the pond and the birds flying around, and yet I feel so much more. I am connected with all of it and with something so much larger than myself. This is a sacred experience. I hold the beauty close and rest in awe of the scene, feeling aligned with it. I breathe with it. I feel a sense of aliveness and connection to it all.”