Seasons of the Soul

What A Plant Knows

If you have ever read The Secret Life of Plants, or the Secret Life of Soil, you know that there is much more going on with our plant kingdom than just decoration or food provision. This intriguing article adds to understanding about the recptivity and sensitivity of plants, and why. 

http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=265

If you are interested in further reading about plants, Conscious Gardening by Michael J. Roads, and The Elves of Lilly Hill Farms, by Penny Kelly, are worthwhile choices.

 

A Kabir Poem

The flute of interior time is played whether we hear it or not,
What we mean by “love” is its sound coming in.                                                                  When love hits the farthest edge of excess, it reaches a   wisdom.
And the fragrance of that knowledge!
It penetrates our thick bodies,
It goes through walls—
Its network of notes has a structure as if a million suns were arranged inside.
This tune has truth in it.
Where else have you heard  a sound like this?

~Kabir

Thoughts To Ponder

*Maybe God wanted us to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one, so that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for the gift.
*Maybe when the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.
*Maybe the best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.
*Maybe it is true that we don't know what we have got until we lose it, but it is also true that we don't know what we have been missing until it arrives.
*Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart; but if it does not, be content it grew in yours.
*It takes only a minute to get a crush
on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes      
a lifetime to forget someone.
*Go beyond physical looks; look for the beauty within another.
*Go for more than material wealth; find the inner treasure.
*Choose someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.
*There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real.
*Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have this one life in which to create your reality, so utilize your time here well.
*May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make
you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.
*Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.
*The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
*Happiness is made for those who cry,
those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried, for only
they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.
*Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss and ends with a tear.
*The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go on
well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
*When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you are the one who is smiling and everyone
around you is crying, but smiling because you were here!.

Gifts From A Wounded Bird

Not only do plants provide us with incredible lessons, but all nature. My friend, Bea Thomas, shared something that happened to her when a bird flew into a plate glass window at her house. Here’s Bea’s description.

“The day it happened, the bird smashed into the big picture window, and he fell to the ground, his head all twisted and turned.  He looked as though his neck was broken and my husband also thought it had a broken neck.

I went outside and sat in front of the ground and prayed with him for a long time.  There was never a flicker of movement on the bird.  At one point, I went in and got my Lamsa bible and read some from the book.  I continued to talk and pray to him and there was no response.  

About 3 1/2 hours later it was getting dark and my husband wanted me to come in.  I said no.  He brought out a blanket and I sat on the blanket.  I started talking to the bird.  I told him I couldn't bring him in the house because I was afraid I would hurt him picking him up.  I told him there were a lot of cats around and he couldn't stay there all night.  Then I would say "come on, breathe, move those wings, etc."  I kept saying this. 

Over 4 hours went by and it was really damp and getting very dark. I told him about the time and that I could not stay there much longer.  All this talk was interspersed with prayer.  I thought I saw a little movement on the eye lid and I started encouraging him to breathe. He opened his eyes.  I started saying, "Move those wings, you can do it.  Come on move those wings. Breathe.  Stand up."  He just flapped his wings a couple of times, turned his head and looked at me,peep, and flew off.

It was shortly after that in the exact spot I had 7 asparagus plants.  I loved asparagus and was very excited about them.  I transplanted them in the garden.  The next year I got more asparagus.  The following year it was crocus, then it was a beautiful orange lily, one year a Veronica, then came the Star Gazer, this year it is a lovely, pink Flox.  My neighbor comes over to see what new gift I receive each year. It is quite amazing, and makes me realize how important it is for us to be conscious and communicate with nature.”

The story Bea tells illustrates the necessity of recognizing our inter-relatedness to all living things. As we deal honorably with other life forms, nature responds in kind. Perhaps our wild weather patterns, animal diseases, and other imbalances are all results of our collective attitudes of unconsciousness towards the earth on which we live. What might happen if we began to treat everything and everyone with equal respect and dignity? As we utilize the gifts of nature, might we experience some broader miracle if we were to show concern and pray for or with all that we take for granted?

In order to affect major change, it is said that only a meaningful minority is required. Through perceptual adjustment, we can be that, and as such...just imagine! If concern for one little bird brought the gift of so many different flowers year after year, what might our concern for the water,  mountains, air, and our food chain bring?... Just imagine!

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Summer 2001

To Weed or Not to Weed

A few years ago as spring became summer, I was busy pulling weeds from my garden. And in so doing, I noted that plants which had been thriving when the weeds were present suddenly drooped and even died when the weeds were removed.  I was shocked! Yet, a weed is a weed is a weed, so I continued pulling them out.

I noticed that a little avocado tree I’d transplanted from a pot was being buffeted by strong afternoon winds in its new location. I thought perhaps I’d planted it in the wrong place, but noted that it held its own in spite of the buffeting it took.            

One day, something new was growing on the wind side of the plant. I observed a group of weeds surrounding the avocado tree only on the wind side, and when the wind came up, it was protected by its new neighbors. As I watched other parts of my wildflower garden emerging, I noted that weeds  grew interspersed with flowers. And where the weeds were, the plants were thriving. This led me to believe that the plants and weeds have a symbiotic relationship to one another, but I wanted confirmation from a friend of mine who has very strong ties to earth, plants, and nature spirits. Her name is Penny Kelly, and she wrote The Elves of Lily Hill Farm. Her story is pretty remarkable, as she encountered nature spirits who helped her grow incredible grape vineyards and more…but that’s another story.

Penny responded with the following: “Your observation about weeds having a symbiotic relationship with other plants is pretty astute. They do! They not only provide shade and windblock, the root mass of each plant puts out both oils (every plant makes its own oils) and plant-specific "humic acids" which it uses to dissolve minerals out of the soil, then uptake those minerals to build more plant structure. Lots of weeds put out acids and oils that nearby plants can also use, which makes the whole bunch of them healthier. Weeds also are specialists at utilizing certain elements in the soil. EG. Dandelions are magnesium hogs. So dandelions grow abundantly wherever there is too much magnesium in the soil. They uptake the extra magnesium and help balance the soil. Pull the dandelion and your soil remains unbalanced. The result is that other plants that do not grow as well in magnesium-heavy soils will not do as well. All weeds perform this kind of service/function. Another example, if you plant potatoes where you had your corn last year, the potatoes will not have any scab because the corn leaves certain chemical factors in the soil that are quite beneficial to potatoes.”

I no longer feel it is necessary to pull weeds. Unless they are violating walking space or overcrowding an area, I leave them alone. We’ve been sold such a bill of goods about using herbicides, insecticides, and all the other chemical products that merely keep nature from doing its work for the sake of some visual idea of “beauty”. What can be more wonderful than nature at work, doing the job her Creator intended? I have a totally different relationship to “weeds” in the garden now, and I’m also transferring that understanding to what I think of as weeds in my life.

What is a weed?
A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered!
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Summer 2001

Putting On the Ritz - Flashdance in Moscow!

The world over...we are at heart the same. Imagine this and then think of the sable rattling that goes on by politicians. Can these people doing this flash dance be our enemies past or future? It's time for us to recognize - this is ONE world. Let's celebrate each other!

http://www.youtube.com/embed/KgoapkOo4vg?rel=0

The Wilderness Experience

Sometimes we use God as our sounding board and we feel God's comfort and grace moving in our life. This reassures us as to our path and position. However, regardless of our religious views, there is a story about Jesus going into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights...completely alone, completely devoid of the "guidance" that was the light of his life. This stage of aloneness is one we all have to go through.

There comes a time for each of us when we lose that connection to "home" in order that we take a look at our lives either to affirm our decisions or to see the starkness of our choices.

Think of it this way...if we were in some crummy summer camp where the food was awful, but we received daily "Care" packages from home containing our favorite foods, warm letters, and other goodies that made us feel cozy, camp would not seem so bad. However, if suddenly the packages stopped coming, and the connection to warmth was gone...we would have to pay attention to our surroundings. We would have to see what was really in front of us because there was nothing else to cushion the stark reality of life in that camp.

When we hit this phase...the wilderness phase...it is a gift to us. Because our connection to God seems gone or very dim, we have to take a look at what our choices have created in our lives. It is at this point that we have an opportunity to clear our view and to make determinations about WHERE we want to go in the future. It doesn't mean we have the answers in the moment. It means that through the confusion and disillusionment of where we have arrived, we are in a position to change our lives. We are ready for the Hero's Journey.

It is so easy to follow a track...a belief system about how we have to proceed. If there has been deep wounding in our life at an emotional level, we may want to consider some quality counseling as part of our hero's journey. Sometimes we have to go through the release of trauma before we can fully go forward.

We may find ourselves at a point where we want to change our entire life. And that can be scary, yet it can also be liberating. Perhaps we will find that everything we have done has been to fulfill someone else's idea of what we should do, be, and accomplish. Now through this "wilderness" experience, we are suddenly aware that throughout our journey, there was someone we left out of the quotient...ourselves!

The wilderness experience is a time of great opportunity. It is a crossroads where we have the opportunity to choose an authentic life that will more closely reflect our deep inner dreams and longing. We must not be afraid to take the steps that will allow us to release the shackles to the past, or to a life path that no longer fits or satisfies us. We are all asked to make corrections from time to time within our lives. That is the beauty of life. It is not set in stone. It is fluid, and gives us opportunity after opportunity to choose the stream we wish to follow. And sometimes that stream changes as we grow in maturity.

We are the hero in this life experience. This is our journey. We can make of it a life fulfilling one, and know that the wilderness experience is a rite of passage that moves us from operating on automatic pilot to facing the emptiness we see with courage - strengthening our resolve to make of our lives the expression we want it to be. What an opportunity! What an awesome possibility awaits us!

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Summer 1997

Bible Stories Retold by Young Scholars

Bible Stories Retold by Young Scholars around the World.
The jewels found below are said to be written by actual
students and are "genuine, authentic, and unretouched."
Compiled by Richard Lederer, they appear in the 22/31/95 issue of National Review.  

*In the first book of the Bible, Guinessis, God got tired of creating the world, so He took the Sabbath off. 
*Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree.
*Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark.
*Noah built an ark, which
the animals came on to in pears. *Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day, but a ball of fire by night.
*The Jews were a proud people and throughout history they had trouble with the unsympathetic Genitals.
*Samson was a strongman who let himself be led astray by a Jezebel like Delilah. Samson slayed the Philistines with the
axe of the apostles.
*Moses led the Hebrews to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients. *The Egyptians were all
drowned in the dessert. Afterwards, Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Amendments.
*The First Commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat
the apple. The Fifth Commandment is to humor thy father and mother. The seventh Commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery. 
*Moses died before he ever reached Canada.
*Then Joshua led the Hebrews in the battle of Geritol. The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to
stand still and he obeyed him.
*David was a Hebrew king skilled at playing the liar. He fought with the Finklesteins, a race of  people who lived in Biblical times.
*Solomon, one of David's sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.
*When Mary heard that she was the mother of Jesus, she sang the Magna Carta.
*When the three wise guys from the east side arrived, they found Jesus in the manager. *Jesus was born because Mary had an immaculate contraption.
*St. John, the Blacksmith, dumped water on his head.
*Jesus enunciated the Golden Rule, which says to do one to others before they do one to you. He also explained, "Man doth not live by sweat alone."
*It was a miracle when Jesus rose from the dead and managed to get the tombstone off the entrance.
*The people who followed the Lord were called the 12 decibels.
*The epistles were the wives of the apostles.
*One of the opossums was St. Matthew who was by profession a taximan.
*St. Paul cavorted to Christianity. He preached holy acrimony, which is
another name for marriage.
*A Christian should have only one spouse. This is called monotony.

 

Justice

In the Babemba tribe of South Africa, when a person acts irresponsibly or unjustly, they are placed in the center of the village, alone and unfettered. All work ceases, and every man, woman and child in the village gathers in a large circle around the accused individual.

Then each person in the tribe, regardless of age, begins to talk out loud to the accused, one at a time, about all the good things the person in the center of the circle has done in their lifetime.

Every incident, every experience that can be recalled with any detail and accuracy is recounted. All the positive attributes, good deeds, strengths and kindnesses are recited carefully and at length. No one is permitted to fabricate, exaggerate or be facetious about the person’s accomplishments or the positive aspects of their personality.

The tribal ceremony often lasts several days and does not cease until everyone is drained of every positive comment they can muster about the person in question.

At the end, the tribal circle is broken, a joyous celebration takes place, and the person is symbolically and literally welcomed back into the tribe.

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Summer 1999

Holding the Charge

I received an e-mail from a friend who is now a seminary student at age forty, and finds that many old friends want to have her listen to them, but do not offer an opportunity for her to be heard.  Oftentimes I find that those of us who are good listeners and do work to help others attract people who want desperately to be heard. As much as they want to talk, many times they are not good at providing that same space for us. It is rare indeed when we find the perfect balance of giving and receiving within a relationship.

In addition to the example of the one who listens and the one who shares, there is another form of communication difficulty. When we share with others, a dynamic of interchange is developed. We spark each other and continue along lines of thought until one or the other of us might not truly understand what is being said. At this stage we can go no further. Our mental frameworks have come to the fork in the road where we think differently. It is very clear when we pay attention to clues. The other person just doesn't "get" what we are trying to say (or vice versa). Explaining doesn't really help. The dynamic of the interchange shifts, and the charge is lost. We have reached the level of depth to which we can go.

An example of this from my own experience is when I've been with a physicist who is explaining theories of life to me. I am able to follow and feel the excitement of what I'm hearing because it sparks me. I have a frame of reference for what he is saying. Then suddenly, I cannot follow the strand any longer. I am lost. And that is the end of what we can discuss, because I have lost the "charge" that makes the connection possible. Similarly, when I try to explain something to someone from my own level of knowledge, we come to a space where there is a feeling of “flying” together, or the recognition that we are not on the same wavelength.

The truth of interactions is that you can only go as far as the person with the least capacity for understanding can handle, because to go further is to lose them (or us). The spark is no longer present. That is why Jesus and the other great teachers always spoke one step below the capacity of their audience to understand. The purpose of communication is understanding and comprehension, not a show of one’s intellect.

 It is important to recognize who we are interacting with and what our respective capacities are.  We cannot make ourselves other than we are.  Where do we have commonality? Where do we hit the blank stare phase? In order to find kindred souls, we have to search...going to a level that is comfortable for us and finding those who feel comfortable there as well.

We may need to piece together a bouquet of friends and acquaintances that represent different meaningful attributes to us. Very rarely can one person be all things that match another. The more we are able to "see," the more varied our bouquet of friends.

Expecting others to be all things to us (or the reverse) is a dangerous trap. We need to appreciate our areas of connection, and respect our differences. When we no longer expect others to be all things to us, and can accept theirs and our own limitations, we can have satisfying relationships that bring us the richness of what they do offer rather than disappointment in what they don’t. As we attune ourselves to who the other person is, we can hold the charge of connection that is mutually enriching and worthwhile.

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Summer 1997