the Failure of Intention
Nature does not intend to be beautiful. The animals plants and landscapes that we enjoy were the result of random geological, meterological, and boilogical processes. A grove of old growth ceder is pleasing to eye, but you cannot ascribe any intention for it to be that way outside of a trees biological imparative to grow tall and large to reach as much available sunlight as possible. If there is a spirit in nature, it is to survive.
Now both creationists and new-agers would dissagree on this point, saying there is an inhearant glory in life that is lost when when our world is reduced to materialistic processes. But for me, this only hightens the beauty of the earth, because that beauty arises unconciously and without effort. The Grand Canyon, Mount Rainer, and the Pacific Coast didn't choose to be breathtaking, they just are. It's as if Beethoven, Debussy, or the Beatles never made any music, but were masters all the same.