I've always loved that verse contained in Isaiah, speaking of the coming time when God's reign is made manifest on the earth, which tells us that "the trees of the field shall clap their hands" (Isaiah 55:12). I thought, as most Bible-believing and conservative Christians will insist, that such passages speaking of nature as having consciousness are metaphorical only. The trees will seem to be clapping their hands because that's the sound some trees make when a strong breeze blows through them. However, I'm just beginning to open up my mind to the possibility that such passages speak of something more than metaphor.