The weight of arrogance is such
that no bird can fly
carrying it.
St. John of the Cross
It is an early summer morning. There is a soft breeze wafting through the kitchen window and the nighttime is slowly giving way into the promise of the rising sun. I treasure this seemingly timeless time of day. It always feels as though the world is woven with threads of beauty and love.
This morning pause always gives me a sense of the infinitude of life, especially the divine ever-presence expressing itself in the guise of millions of species. Within this open and peaceful moment, there is a primal remembering of intertwined reverence and harmony, known to ancient and indigenous peoples from near and far.
If I could crawl into the existence of another species or part of nature – a flower, a stream, a grain of sand, a tree, or an animal – likely this moment would be the norm. All beings experiencing interconnectedness, riding the rhythms and cycles that existed long before humankind. Characteristics such as lightness, gentleness, and caring are easy to find throughout the natural world. It is almost as though there is an inherent understanding that greed, pride, and arrogance would hinder, rather than support, the well-being of the earth’s species and all that sustains them.
The insights of sages and saints like St John the Cross inspire me to slow down and notice the preciousness of the natural world, not only in the moments of the early morning but also in each seed, leaf, rain drop, and wag of a tail. The poetic words of these wise elders also inspire me to appreciate the relative youth of humanity compared to the longevity of the cosmos, the planet, and other species.
We abide within an ocean of wisdom. And, as a young but potentially wise species we have the capacity to decide to excel in empathy, kindness, compassion, sincere gratitude, and love. Other species are there waiting to teach us the basics, as are the timeless words of saintly guides such as St. John the Cross. This is a pathway of courage in which we walk through our personal and collective traumas and sufferings, yet we are endowed with collaborators along the way: the support of one another, and the grace of the divine. I would love to reclaim some small part of the potentiality of our humanness. Please join me.
Practice
This practice supports connection with your surroundings.
Prepare –
- Turn your phone and any other devices to airplane mode.
- If
possible, go outside and find a quiet place to sit.
- Optional: Stay inside and find a comfortable place to sit. Ideally, have a plant or flower nearby.
- Close
you eyes for a few moments. Imagine that
you could relax the surface of your eyeballs and the lids of your eyes.
- If you wish, you can gently rest the heels of your hands on your eyes to help release tension around the eyes.
Practice –
- Open
your eyes and slowly look around as though you are seeing your surroundings for
the first time.
- Resist any temptation to take a photograph. Just savor the ability to look and notice what you are seeing.
- Allow any sounds to register in you awareness but without distracting your taking a few moments to just observe and be together with your surroundings.
- Choose
one non-mammal part of nature and allow yourself to explore this other living
being with a sense of curiosity.
- Just notice what you notice. Do this without staring, just a soft gaze.
- Then, let the observing and noticing go, so that you are simply together with your planetary friend.
- Stay here for 5-10 minutes.
- Then, say “thank you,” rise and come to standing.
Transition back into your day –
- Stretch out. Smile.
- When you are ready, return to your day.
This poem appears in Mala of the Heart: 108 Sacred, page 11, edited by Ravi Nathwani and Kate Vogt and published by New World Library. HEARTH is posted each new and full moon. KateVogt©2019.
