Mitigation Teamwork

Let the one who carries fire sit beside the one who carries water. The Agreement Beneath All Names

As the cacophony of noise and accompanying horrors being perpetrated on Life grows louder and more horrific, I find myself in deep need to be silent, still. Body and soul need quiet and to be quiet. They call for the stillness of deep rest. To listen. Not to the world, but to Life. All Life.

Mind’s pesky thoughts pop in, questioning if quiet and stillness are aligned with these intense times. Perhaps in the so-called rational world we call ‘reality’, this is no time for stillness. For many it’s a time to add to the noise, turn up the volume so you’ll be heard. It’s a time many are called to action, to protest, to caring for one another.

And rightfully so. We each need to listen to and respond to our unique call in this moment.

My soul hears a different call. And as if to be sure that I hear and heed the soul’s call, body chimes in offering up a scratchy throat, minor arm injury, and a dearth of physical energy. “That should keep you quiet and still,” body seems to say.

Silence and stillness aren’t easy. Yet, as I listen, I sense that I’m harmonizing with all the Beings here in the woods in the wake of last week’s mitigation. The work itself flowed easily, with the trees and other Beings who dwell and visit here cooperating with we humans as we communicated and worked closely together. It was as if the tree Beings understood the need and opened to the transformational sacrifice.

And now we are called to recover. To move beyond the shock and jarring of change and into harmony with the present. The trees with new roles as firewood and mulch, not shade. For all, being more visible as old visual barriers are removed.

So this day, as I settle back into the quiet stillness of place, I leave you with a bit more from The Agreement Beneath All Names to reflect upon and, perhaps as I have, to incorporate into your daily practices of contributing to a peaceful world.

The sky above all prayers does not choose sides.

So we choose again—

each morning, each meeting, each moment of heat—

to respond instead of react,

to include instead of conquer,

to listen long enough for the deeper truth to surface. from The Agreement Beneath All Names

Honoring the Sacrifice and Gratitude for the Tree