Nature

I find that Nature hardens the exterior of humans and softens the interior. 

Civilization softens the exterior and hardens the interior. 

Balance is beauty. 

Religion

Story time.

I was raised in a religious home. Being homeschooled for a significant time most of my friends and social outings were from the church. It was a wonderful environment that fundamentally fostered a commitment to loving one another and to deal with each other through compassion. I attribute religion's reinforcing nature for the retention of my best qualities through adolescent's transforming times. Though today I don't identify with any religion. Not to say I fully disagree with it nor have any negativity with anyone who does. Period. In fact I believe when practiced best, religion can still be a powerfully harmonious and collaborative agent in society. Something society desperately needs. I will say however religion has an inherent limit, though depending on the congregation the limit can be reduced. The limit is as limiting as the congregation's inability to recognize all peoples outside its beliefs are the same as those within. It's an interesting phenomenon when religion accepts all who wish to join, but believe(though may never explicitly state but is nonetheless there) that all who believe otherwise are separate and or wrong. To the extent this limit recedes, the congregation abides closer to the ethos of the religion which was inspired by the teacher in the first place. However once fully erased, so will the necessity for a specific label of practice or particular community. And here is where we arrive at the statements in this photo. There isn't any real separation. There is only love.

P.S. I appreciate the communal value of sharing similar spiritual practices and all the cycles of learning and teaching that thrives within religion. Perhaps this was the original purpose of religion: Sharing in similarities. Not judging differences, whether explicitly or in our hearts.