Unity

  I was part of the planning team from the Wellstreams Council  who took part in an "Earth Walk" experience at Camp Christian.  It is always interesting to plan an event and not understand how it will affect you when you actually participate in it.  That is what happened to me.

After our opening meditation and sharing circle we each were instructed to walk around camp and find our "spirit spot."  There we were to stay and settle into a state of motionlessness.  We were not to move or strain, but just allow the natural world to sweep over us and engulf us and experience the flow of life around us.

I quickly identified a spot near the lake where I could sit in the shade under a tree and just gaze around me.

 There was a large heron that flew by and seemed to be inviting me to stop and rest.  During our opening prayer time we had received this quotation:

"I become a transparent eyeball, I am nothing;

 I see all the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me;

 I am part or particle of God" 

 (Emerson)

During the hour of sitting, I was aware of all the movement that was going on before me.  Here is what I wrote:

Be Still and Know

And what I know is the nothing is Still.

I sit and see ants on my jeans crawling to my socks

and a teeny tiny bug on the tip of a blade of grass

and a little itty bitty something that has landed on my journal

and a tiny  flying creature hovering near by

It is not still - never still

And the wind is moving the grasses by the lake

and the water is reflecting the trees

    I see glints of diamonds

         that become ripples,

            then crescents

               then concentric circles

The water is moved by the wind and the fountain and frogs and fish                                                     It is not still - never still

And I am not still inside or out

Thoughts careening from here to there and back here again

I am breathing air in and out

My blood is flowing through my body

It is not still - never still

Be still and know the Psalmist writes

and I think - nothing is still here

And I do NOT know but I wonder

Are you  still God? Creator?  Lover of my soul?

Are you the prime mover of this activity ?

Are you moving me?

In the afternoon we were invited to do a walk about and allow ourselves to be drawn to an natural being and stand in its presence and be "in conversation" with it.  As we planned this, I wondered what it would be like, but it turned out to be a rich experience for me.

I was drawn to a purple wildflower that I thought was beautiful (later found out it was an "ironweed" which is a poor name for such a lovely creation.)  It was on the side of a path and the only bit of color in a sea of green.

I literally sat at its feet and allowed it to show me its life.  At first I thought it was standing straight and tall and then I realized there was a lean to the sun.  There were bugs  that landed and went away.  Looking carefully, I could see it was a lot of little flowers grouped together - some budding, some in bloom and some past blooming.

And this is what I ended up writing:

This afternoon in communion with a purple wildflower standing on the side of the road

Communing as we both are beautiful creations of God  who live for a finite time

I watch the bugs, bees and butterflies land and fly away and know that she cannot control who comes and goes 

As so many people have come and gone in my life.

She receives all without complaint or expectation.

She is leaning toward the sun - a life giving source for her.

As I lean toward the Son - the source of hope and life for me.

She is noticed by some and I am sure dismissed by many.

I seek her stance, her singularity, her availability.

Is she a reflection of me?  Is she connected to me?

I never would have expected to feel unity with a wildflower, but I truly did.  There is this sense of connection and oneness in immersing ourselves in nature.  A day like this of slowing down and resting in creation and noticing our connections shifts something within me.  I am grateful to have the time and the ability to be able to do this.

And I write this on Sunday morning after watching the news of Charlottesville yesterday.  It hurts my heart to see the way in which people choose to separate themselves and concentrate on what divides instead of what connects us.  My prayers are with all who are grieving today.  Somehow we have got to move away from arguing and opining to seeking our common humanity and our soul connections. 

If I can commune with a wildflower, surely we can all commune with another living breathing human being. I know that I am an idealist and a dreamer but I am not the only one.

I think of these words by John Lennon and they speak to me today.

Imagine

Imagine all the people living life in peace, you

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

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