Honey, I Love You

As soon as you apply yourself to contemplation, you will at once feel your senses gather themselves together: they seem like bees which return to the hive and there shut themselves up to work at the making of honey. 
  – Saint Teresa of Avila

The Forsythia's delicate blooms and brittle branches reach out cheerfully to me in the distance in spite of the still-cold nights; they are the earliest to show their colors on our property while other plants are barely budding and grass is sparse.

Drinking Honeybush teasan, its subtle flavor teasing me, I savor the sunshine and the songs of the birds.

As in the quote, full attention brings the sweetness of nourishing soul-honey.

Discovery

Ocotillo

"Ultimately, spirituality is a mode of being in which not only the divine and the human commune with each other but through which we discover ourselves in the universe and the universe discovers itself in us." 

~ Thomas Berry, The Sacred Universe

Rainy morning, green grass beginning to reveal itself once more as the soil moistens, warms, and wakes up like I do when splashing water upon my face. The past few nights, when I go out with the dogs before bed, the night-hoises are so loud and enchanting. The silence of slumber in winter is being replaced by insects and peepers and the rustles of beings in brush free from their snow-forts of hibernation. I see--really see--the beauty and wonder of the woods, the glorious guardian pines I treasure towering over all other plants and over me and my family. We have lived for ten ears within their embrace and I have felt so safe and nourished, now fully recovered from past traumas and challenges; they have kept me swaddled in a loving blanket of multi-colored rough-bark threads, each one feeding and weaving my heart whole. I breathe in their scent and hold it within briefly, acknowledging their gift. A bit of sadness creeps upon me with the knowing of our this-year-sometime departure, yet not separation for I am ever with them and they with me in Spirit and imagination. I can close my eyes and feel them and will carry this with me ... their presence, protection and peaceful power. I am eager for change of locale--of energy flow--to experience Gaia in a new way and She me. I've been with Her before in the desert but so long ago and was not then in a state of mind and heart to fully bring Her into Self. I can gaze at photos and sense Her wonders but to feel Her under my feet once more will be an incomparable gift for which I am so thankful. I am not seeking fulfillment in Her, in the change of Her face, but rather pure pleasure and growth and discovery. To open to Her changing face and touch Her rough dry skin, She is Crone, Queen, Grandmother who helps us see beyond the surface. She is teacher and I am student, delving within to recover what I once knew but that has been hidden until now. What wonders of knowing await? If I couldn't travel to Her other visage, I would still learn Her landscape of lessons and grow, finding and opening to the opportunities in abundance every moment. I had not even contemplated being able to return to Her other face, Her mysteries of life in the West and Southwest. I had thought that I would only be able to dream of Her or visit Her in Her dusty robes and gnarled hands wise beyond words and subtle surprises of bright color ... to merely dip into Her briefly as circumstances allowed. To now be on a journey back to where I first remembered Her sacredness is a gift beyond measure. A blessing of discovery in each other.

A Sense of Wonder

For those of you who have yet to see "A Sense of Wonder," the 2010 docudrama based upon Rachel Carson (author of "Silent Spring"), I encourage you to find a way to view this lovely film.

Somehow, I missed its release last year, but was grateful that my husband came across and recorded it for me to watch yesterday. The poignant, one-woman play, written and performed by Kaiulani Lee, was captured beautifully in the simple film; most of the dialogue is from Rachel Carson's writings and the actress delivers each word with heart-felt sincerity.

"Those who dwell, 

as scientists or laymen, 

among the beauties and mysteries of the earth 

are never alone or weary of life."

Journey of Soul Inquiry

First, a heartfelt thank you to everyone who traveled with me on this Journey of Soul Inquiry. Your thoughtful comments, insights, and beautiful encouragement were truly a blessing.

I am pleased to announce that the entire 120 passages are now available either for free as a download, or to purchase as a printed book.

I trust that the messages and the impressions they create will touch you as they have me, bringing inspiration and insight, joy and healing reflection. May they open you, and those with whom you share them, to explore new ways of being and doing in the world, whether through your own process, or through the passages that were revealed to me.

Bright Blessings!