The Canopy
I will rest under your canopy. Branches letting in just enough light that I am shaded but able to feel the sun. I will rest under your weight. Providence allowing just enough pressure that I might burst my seeds and learn my strength. I will rest under your care. My harvest, the simple pleasures of living at peace within your domain, and lining its walls with praise.
~ Ana Lisa de Jonf
What We Need is Here
Horseback on Sunday morning,
harvest over, we taste persimmon
and wild grape, sharp sweet
of summer’s end. In time’s maze
over fall fields, we name names
that rest on graves. We open
a persimmon seed to find the tree
that stands in promise,
pale, in the seed’s marrow.
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye,
clear. What we need is here. ~Wendall Berry
Spring Equinox
The balance tips toward the light.
Now is the time to start
A journey or a garden bed;
Plant with a happy heart
The seeds of dreams. Wake, senses, wake!
Smell the moist soil that brings
Forth juicy green from its dark depth.
Hear how the river sings;
The waters nourish and renew.
Feel gentle balmy breeze
Caress your skin. See sun’s bright light
Awaken grass and trees.
Now taste the joy. And like the earth
You are refreshed and new
And full of energy to plant,
Begin, create, and do. ~Agnes Krampe
Web of Life
Our life doesn’t end at the skin of our fingertips, it extends far beyond. Intrinsically, we are connected to each other and the universe. We are part of the mycelium, knit together [in the womb of the universe], as the Psalms say, “fearfully and wonderfully made.” WE are part of the web of life the Mycorrhizal. Humans are interconnected to the very things each of us are created from. Soil, water, air, sunlight. These things don’t belong to us, we are part of them.
We do not live on the earth but rather in it. The warmth of the sun reaches down into our atmosphere creating life in the soil, water and air. All of these elements are part of who we are and are no less important than the other. What would the world look like if we gave them the same respect we as our loved ones? We may feel as though we could never live without our loved ones yet in truth, we really couldn’t live without soil, water, or air.
In her book An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor said, “Just because the land and the livestock cannot hire a lawyer does not mean they have not been violated.” Our part in this life of ours is to be respectful, kind and loving to each other and to the Universe. That means the stars, clouds, oceans, forests, as well as life of all kinds. We are interconnected pieces of a single system. What we call it doesn’t matter as long as we realize we are knit together. Nothing that has been created is greater than the other. We must restore the divine back into what we perceive as ordinary by focusing on the mystical experiences we have every day. Like simply breathing.
~Cindy Myatt
North Cascades Wild Church 