The Graze V.162: Believe the Bird

Friends:

The fires in Canada have filled our skies with the aroma of burnt wood. The haze represents dangerous air quality and fills our watersheds with ash.

The ominous Vermont sky reminds me that we are deeply connected. Our connection is not only to one another but to the flora and fauna; the rocks and the water; the breeze and the soil; the fungi and the insects.  The effects of global warming touch every living being. We know the science, but how does this information move us?  Change us? Transform us?

In her book Sacred Nature, author Karen Armstrong writes, “Recycling and political protests are not enough. We need a completely new worldview.” A vital part of this process is to regain what Armstrong calls a “silent receptiveness” to the natural world. For Armstrong, this is the key to unlocking a closer relationship with creation and ultimately preventing the impending climate catastrophe.

I am working on spending a few minutes each day quietly absorbing the sights and sounds of nature - (without my phone!).  What is that unusual-sounding bird in the Oak tree? Is our neighborhood bear female or male? Is that lovely flower on the hillside phlox or the more invasive “false phlox”?  While interesting, none of these facts bring me closer to understanding myself as part of the ‘whole'’ None of these facts bring me closer to the mystery.

The great mysteries: love, faith, truth, and God, must be seen with different eyes and a deeper mind. Mystery is only understood through our experience as a part of the bigger reality of the natural world.

John Audubon once said, “If there is a difference between the bird and what the field guide says, believe the bird.”  

Believe the bird.

Blessings in the profound mystery,

🌱 Lisa+