(Short parts from several selections)
The mist that swirls around me is neither cool nor warm, a fact which enhances my feeling that I am suspended in nothingness. Before me, I know, lies a deep green valley. Around me, I know, trees raise their limbs in the still air, clothed in soft mosses. But for the moment, the mist encompasses all. I stand still and listen, waiting for the whispers I know will come.
I stand in the mountain environment known as Kōke‘e, on the island of Kaua‘i, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Here, as in other places of wilderness scattered around the world, Nature speaks, if you but dare to listen…...
Moments Of Wonder
It almost seems a lost art these days, to have a sense of Wonder. Viewing the world with wonder means to be open to the “amazingness” of Life, to have a sense of Awe, to acknowledge that there is a deeper Mystery at work in the world than we are, or ever could be, fully aware of. Walking with wonder means to appreciate that Nature is vibrantly alive and ever creating. Nature is ever devising new patterns, new combinations, new interactions, new variations, and an un-ending stream of magical moments. Walking with a sense of wonder means to be present with an open heart, to be receptive, to allow nature to touch you. Wonder carries you into timelessness. When you see a breathtakingly beautiful vista or are stopped in your tracks to marvel at the amazingly intricate pattern on a leaf, or the way light reflects off a pool of still water, it is as if you are suspended, standing in between moments of ordinary time…..
The Way Of Wonder
Just the smallest step away, in this very moment,
there lies another way of being, another way of seeing
the world that lies around you.
Just the smallest blink of an eye,
or perhaps it is the blink of a heart,
and everything around you comes suddenly alive,
to a new and greater depth.
Suddenly you know
what a miracle it is that there is life.
Suddenly your heart connects to this tree, or that mountain,
or the fragrance of a delicate flower,
and you step into the world of Wonder.
You step into a sense of Awe
that this most amazing thing could exist,
and that this most amazing thing
is just as alive as you are…..
Circles Of Life
A Circle of Earth
that turns for its days
is circled by Moon
who dances and plays
while together they circle
to orbit the Sun
in a year full of Seasons
we feel one by one.
And on the Earth
circles are danced day by day
by life that is born
and then passes away,
to circle around
through the elements’ care
to another new life
that will come who knows where,
for another adventure
of living on Earth
who dreams us in circles
from death into birth.....
Whispers On The Mountain
So quietly she speaks, so gently.....
The barest whisper in a breeze,
and a thought that lightly brushes against my mind.
She knows that when I first come to her,
I am not even ready to listen.
And so, patiently, she eases away my tensions.
Her gentle mists embrace me,
dissolving the frazzlements
I’ve somehow collected around me.
She catches my attention
with blossoming flowers and uncurling fern fronds,
until my mind finally gives up its chattering preoccupation.
And then, when I am finally ready to hear her voice,
she sends me messengers
with whispers that touch my heart.
Slow down, she urges.
It is not good to be always in a hurry.
Stop, and be still for a moment…..
What Is It That Happens Out There?
What is it that happens out there,
when I go to wander all day in nature’s wild places?
It is as if I am fed,
when I knew not that I had a hunger.
It is as if I am healed,
when I knew not that I was ill.
My ears respond with relief and delight
to a sound that is mostly silence,
and my body cherishes the touches
of wind and sun and mist and even rain.
I feel at home there,
wandering places I have walked countless times,
and yet every time it is different.
Wildness lives there,
living, growing, shifting,
moving through cycles and seasons and weather patterns
to form combinations of endless variety.
A swirl of fragrance drifts by,
sunlight sparkles off a perfectly poised raindrop
lingering on a leaf tip,
a dragonfly circles around me,
and a delicate moss presents yet another shade of green
that I had never seen before….
Stone Holds The Dream
Stone,
Still, silent, strong.
We-who-rush hardly notice stone.
But stone is mountain.
Stone is soil-to-be.
Stone is the bedrock,
the very earth on which we dwell,
the ground beneath our feet.
And it is stone which holds the dream,
stone which anchors the energy of Place.
Great Spirit sang the song of Creation,
dancing from place to place
in wondrous creativity and endless variety,
an unprecedented exploration of expression.
And in each unique place,
each sacred creation,
the pattern of that place
was anchored in the stone.
The stone holds the dream.
The stone keeps safe the pattern.
The stone sings the song,
renewing the life, the being-ness of that place,
so that each particular precious vision
may continue to be re-created.....
In The Company Of Trees
In the company of Trees
I am different somehow,
not the same as I am
when engrossed in the world of humankind.
Perhaps it is that
in the company of Trees,
I see with a different perspective.
I see a different part of myself emerge;
a deeper part,
a more connected part,
a part that feels in some way more real.
In the company of Trees
I seem to be encouraged
to look at the Bigger Picture,
the long range view.
Trees, after all, do not do things in a hurry,
or make hasty decisions.
Trees have a way of reminding me
that patience is, after all, a virtue,
even if, regretfully,
found too seldom in humans.
There are certain things, they say,
that just Take Time,
(like growing a Redwood Tree,
or healing your emotions,
or becoming wise.)
On the other hand, there are things that take
being in a state of No-Time,
being in the stillness, in timelessness,
in a moment of wonder.
Trees are masters at this.....
Claim Your Birthright
You were born upon a living planet;
a multitude of living beings,
dwelling in the midst of elemental powers,
all swirling and flowing and cycling in vibrant life.
And you, human, were born in their midst
that you might interact with them.
Don’t shut yourself away in little closed-in boxes,
filled with human-talk and human-thought and human-stuff alone.
There’s a world out there, a real world,
alive and pulsing and filled with delight.
It is your Birthright,
to step into the world of Nature,
to explore and experience and discover,
and to connect with those diverse and most amazing beings
with whom you share this world.
It is there for you,
to hear the song of the birds who greet the dawn,
to hear the river’s tinkling and gurgling as it flows along,
to immerse yourself in cricketsong at the end of the day.
Yours is the privilege
to breathe deeply of the fragrance of forest after a rain,
to inhale the salt air and the smell of hot sand
and the unique scent of sun-warmed skin,
to be enveloped by the intoxicating aroma of a field of flowers…..
Being
We have forgotten how to Be...
To lie perfectly still and let the wind play over your body,
smoothing out the tensions…
To listen to the sound of the sea rolling down the shore
washing away worry or sadness…
To breathe in the fragrance of a flower
until it fills your lungs
and you begin to connect with its essence…
To watch clouds move against a blue sky,
or patterns of sunlight and shadow against a green mountain…
To take time to ponder, “Who am I really?” and
“Who do I really want to be?”
To spend a day just being still enough to listen
to what Spirit may have to say to you.
We live in a society that bombards us with the drive to “do,”
to cram a million bits of activity into every day,
to use every second for something verifiably “productive”
and if possible, to do two or three things at once.
But where did this come from?
Whose idea was this?
Doesn’t anyone consider that this may be unwise?
Haven’t they seen that all this excessive doing
produces stress, anxiety, tension, exhaustion,
illness, anger, and even feelings of guilt?.....
There Is A Way Of Being
There is a way of Being in which mankind and nature live in right relationship, recognizing their true connection.
Included in this relationship is our connecting to various aspects of Nature for healing, for energizing, for emotional well being, and for deepening our spiritual connection.
Included in this relationship is learning ways we can live more harmoniously with nature and assist her well being as well as our own.
The bonding of Nature and Mankind is a sacred connection.
It is a connection that can heal the Earth.
It is a connection that can heal Mankind.
When there exists between them a state of Respect and Honor, of cooperation and of Love, then will there be a time when we can begin to live our true destiny.
This is my goal:
to bring harmony, healing, love, and a new sense of wonder
to the relationship between Humankind and Nature.
There is a way of Being in which Mankind and Nature
live together in ecstasy.
