Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Together

The Mystery within...
Leo Tolstoy:  “One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between man [please read men, women and children] and Nature shall not be broken.”

I know how essential my link to nature is for my own well-being and happiness.  I understand how privileged I am to be able to daily walk, aware of the earth beneath my boots, through the seasons and in most all weather.  Somehow my gratitude for this gift connects me to the Mystery for which there are no adequate words.  My prayer is for all to feel the joy from this connection.

My knowing of the symbiotic relationship with nature makes it scary to hear plans to roll back the long overdue and hard fought laws and regulations protecting our land, water and air in the name of self-serving economies and obsolete jobs.  I pray the fear of returning to rivers that catch fire, increasing toxic waste levels in our air and water, and further depletion and contamination of the soils that grow our food, will instill courage in me and you to say emphatically, “No this cannot be!”

I’ve lived through personal fear and threats, found courage and my voice, and ultimately came to know peace through forgiveness.  It was a difficult, exhausting, but ultimately rewarding personal journey.  Together we can now voice our rejection to this renewed threat to our world and well-being, continue to repair the link between Nature and us, and ultimately learn to live in peace through forgiveness.


What if we all prayed to know our part in repairing the link between Nature and us and ultimately come to realize peace through forgiveness?

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Connected

The Mystery within...
I had the great fortune to take a quiet, early Sunday morning walk, with my yellow lab Oliver.  We moved along paths in a wood where a thin soft layer of fresh wet snow lay.  No other human foot traffic had yet disturbed the thin even layer of moist softness.  But there were definitely signs of other traffic--most notably deer, turkeys, raccoons and rabbits.  I felt privileged to follow in their footsteps.  Only three deer made themselves visible to us but I felt connected to all with whom we shared the trails, as well as the still iced over pond, bare trees, and intermittent peaks of sun.  I wanted that sense of connection and peace to stay with me and expand to the people I would encounter throughout my day.  And I envied the native peoples who had lived closer and more connected to the land and one another.

But as my day moved forward my heart felt overwhelmed from current threats to God’s creation and our alienation from one another.  Perhaps it will be the gift of fear that will bring us to acknowledge what our world needs, awakening our dependence on the land and on one another. 

I was reminded of my long ago reading of “Seven Arrows” where author Hyemeyohsts Storm tells of the Sioux tribe’s peace shields that depicted an individual’s strength along with one’s weakness for all to see.  What a great ego softener that honesty would be.  It could elicit understanding and help from those I encounter throughout my day.  And my strengths would be known for what I can contribute to the whole.               


What if we each designed our own peace shields as medicine to reconnect us to the land and one another? 

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

"Hello"

The Mystery within...
Padraig O. Tuama, poet, theologian, writer and healer of fractures in human relations was a Krista Tippet On Being guest.  He touched me with his love of simple language for effective communication, and most especially his morning prayer where he simply says “hello” to what is in his life as each new day begins.  And even more poignant, throughout his day he says, “hello,” to whoever or whatever new shows up, whether a welcome arrival or not. 

I loved the purity of Tuama’s daily greetings.  I understand how practicing “hello” would keep me in the present moment and help me be more accepting of all that shows up in my day.  I know from past experiences there is grace in accepting whatever is and it is that acceptance which leads me to learn from whoever or whatever shows up in my day.


What if we could “hello” ourselves into accepting the present moment more often?