One of the nine pathways we offer here at Journey Center Online is an invitation to encounter the Holy in beautiful Creation… and that is just the experience I was blessed with yesterday!
I joined Michelle’s Wild Communion group in the morning; two of us called in from Northern California, one from Oregon and one from Utah. We had each chosen a “wild place” to be in for the experience and mine was in a grove of redwood trees at a county park near our home. I sat at a picnic table and found myself at the center of a circle of these beautiful, majestic giants.
Coming to the experience from a busy week meant that it took me some time to fully arrive, to quiet my mind and heart, to settle into the present moment. Hearing Michelle’s lovely voice guiding us was calming and centering as I began to notice and savor the gifts of Creation that were around me.
Two of the holy moments from the morning stay with me, for in those moments I found myself on sacred ground with an awareness of the nearness of the One who loves me.
My eyes were drawn to one redwood tree whose lower branches were wilting and turning brown. We had been invited to notice death and life around us, and to notice in our body how we responded. I saw those dying branches and heard myself breathe out a deep sigh of sadness about the extreme drought conditions that were causing so much suffering in nature.
Then I lifted my eyes up the trunk of the tree and heard another kind of breath being taken in; I gasped in awe to see all the bright green new growth on the higher branches. So unexpected and beautiful, giving hope and speaking to me of hidden sources of water. I realized that the Spirit was inviting me to send out my spiritual roots towards the deep rivers of Living Water that can be found in silence, solitude and meditation.
The other holy moment was when Michelle invited us, as we were close to a tree, to think about how that tree was giving us the oxygen we need and taking in from us the carbon dioxide that it needs. I sat or several minutes in the awareness of that life-giving exchange and was filled with gratitude for how Creation and I are inter-connected even when I’m not aware of it.
For the many gifts that You give me through Your beautiful Creation, every moment of every day, I give You thanks!
