Listen to the wood …
Nature cannot step up and act upon us, except as it must respond to its basic need to be in balance. We have the power either to create a flourishing cornucopia of life to nurture and support us or to create hurricanes, melting polar ice caps, and swarms of locusts. … Every thought we have has an effect on us and our planet as well. We can be mindful of our thoughts. Gregge Tiffen (Life In The World Hereafter: The Journey Continues)
Listen to the wood.
I ‘heard’ those words one morning recently just after adding logs to my early morning fire, wondering afterwards whether I’d added too many too fast to get a quick hot burn going in the wood stove. It reminded me that all of nature speaks her gentleness, consistency, stability, strength. In these mountain woods, I’m surrounded these gifts.
Nature also has the quality of harmony. Harmony is central to nature’s existence and she will do what is necessary to reach and maintain her harmonious state. If nature’s harmony is upset, she will respond, violently if necessary, in order to bring harmony back to the planet. Yes, those so-called ‘acts of God’ have a purpose.
Mother Nature will prevail. Our beautiful blue/green planet will exist as long as she has a purpose in the heavens, though we humans may not always be along for the ride. We have plundered too much, exploiting natural resources as commodities to be used up, sold for profit. We dominate and attempt to control rather than practicing the dominion of the planet we were granted: loving and listening to mother earth and considering her needs and her care as part of the equation of an abundant life.
We do so not just with destructive deeds, but with our negativity as well: fearful thoughts that in their angry expression forget the truth of our being, angry thoughts that in their fearful expressions resort to war and violence in both words and deeds.
This is not just ‘the other’, it is us – me and you – for none of us are yet free of anger and fear as sometime motivators and guides. And, that’s another gift, for planet Earth provides us the place to learn, to experiment, and to nurture the seeds of our infinite sojourn through an infinite and energetic universe.
May we do so as reflections of nature’s highest and best qualities!
Gentleness on the road out back.