Resting

SoulCards(c) Deborah Koff-Chapin

As I lay to rest the past and sink into the present, I feel new life emerging . . . 


A great tree fallen in the forest, I lie here. 
I rest. 
I feel my trunk settle heavily into the earth as the tiny creatures take sustenance from that which I no longer need, and whose time has passed transforming, changing me, we become One as bits fall away. 
I rest, fallen, my leaves turning yellow, then brown and crisp as the sap drains away. High winds were more than I could handle with my aged rigidity and brittle roots that no longer sought nourishment in Gaia but rather readied for transition. 
I rest. 
Soft verdant moss begins to spread upon my sides, cushioning my heart as my inner residue leaks out into Mother. 
I rest. 
Thick figures push up next to me, their broad-brimmed caps spreading, the delicate underlining tissues protected; they huddle close in the shadows of my dissolving torso, white and tan, some are food, some poison, all of them innocent and quiet. 
I rest. 
I feel my rough outer bark disintegrate more with each passing moment and I shudder as a large piece slides off and falls to the ground, curving upward in remembrance of what once was before the beautiful beings pick away at it, using sections for their homes, or morsels for food, and the elements cycle in and out wearing me down to the basics. 
I feel my branches crumble, twigs snapping as they dry up, and watch as a bird builds a nest with bits of once-vibrant me. 
I rest. 
And then . . . 
I feel a movement deep within my heart, a churning, a spark of energy. 
I look and see a precious green shoot, barely visible, making its way up from what was to begin anew, slowly, leaning toward the light that filters through the canopy, following the sun, stretching--yearning, growing. 
A slim green wand that bends in the breezes singing encouragement, waving, deeply rooted in experience yet starting over in joyous youth. 
Taller, stronger, I feel delicate leaves unfurl, waxy in their juices. 
And I quiver with delight in the present newness of Life. And then . . . 
I rest.
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This image immediately transfixed me, drawing me rapidly into imagining myself as a fallen tree in a deep forest, waiting for what would happen, seeing, witnessing transformation with a blissful calm. How beautiful to see Mother Nature reflect all that is and ever will be. The manifestations may change but all is eternal cycles of birth, death, rebirth--transformation, energy, vibrations within the cosmos. We move in and out of Akash, aware or unaware or in the space where nothingness is All. To know the cycles within and without, we mirror each other, because separation is an illusion we think we see as the reflection but we are One--no mirror, no reflection, we simply Are That.