The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean –
the one who had flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down –
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
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Dear Friends,
Summer is upon us, and I am amazed at how quickly time passes. It seems only days ago that the year began, and even though we are in the height of summer, the days are already growing shorter. All the more reason to ask ourselves, as Mary Oliver suggests, what we are doing with our ‘one wild and precious life'? It is, at least to me, the question of the 21 st century. What are we doing with this wonderful wild world we live in and how are we living in it? I've been lucky this past year to have lived this question deeply. And while some answers come, more questions come along with them.
I have been compelled to deepen 
my relationship with the natural world, and as I do, I wonder at how easily we take it for granted. With each paper towel or ‘disposable' plastic container I toss in the trash can and every full tank of gas I wonder: What will become of us??? With daily news of endless conflicts and broken leadership I wonder: What am I doing to make a difference? With melting ice caps, a society of denial, and continued dependence on a consumptive way of life, I wonder: How can we change before it is too late? With each visit to national parks or wide expanses of great beauty, I wonder: How could anyone not LOVE this earth and take actions to preserve its beauty and bounty and diversity? With each dive into my own soul that naturally occurs in wilderness, I wonder: How do we humans learn to live in harmony with ‘other' as simply and effortlessly as multitudes of species do in nature?
I don't know the answers to all of my questions but I do know one thing. Being in wilderness opens our inner vision and guides us to right action and that which is in alignment with our most natural, whole, and true Selves. This in itself is a mighty accomplishment! But beyond that, marrying ones commitment to make a difference (in the world) with nature-oriented self-inquiry has powerful potential for moving us forward in our lives. Being agents of change in our culture requires each of us to slough off the patterns that cover up our true Selves. Being in wilderness supports this sloughing off.
This happens in the most organic way because there is no distinction between the matter of our planet and the matter of the human body. I am born of the earth, consequently the earth is a reflection of my origin. So a connection with the earth returns me to an ‘original' state of mind and being. (I wonder what if, instead of religion casting us into ‘original sin,' it defined the human being as ‘original substance'? Then we humans would know ourselves as one being ... born of the earth.)
The experience of being fully present in nature is always a Mystery, a tremendous unknown waiting to occur, as the expansiveness of wilderness touches our innermost wilderness of being. Whether gazing at an infinite night sky or becoming lost in the miniscule beauty of a pollen-covered bee, drunk in the sweet nectar of life, entering nature is a way to touch the ecstasy of Self-knowing. Words fail me here, for the experience of laying down on a boulder or tree and consciously merging with the body of the earth has no ordinary language. Lying under the stars, watching the world turn as the moon passes across the sky … Wishing for a shooting star and glimpsing one … Standing silently at a riverbank watching a bald eagle soar silently, majestically, and motionlessly past … Standing before 3,000 year-old petroglyphs and deciphering their message ...
These experiences and others like them are deeply nourishing and what I'd call ‘place-making' because deep connection in nature reminds us of our place in Life. In addition to feeding our sense of belonging to the universe, they are simply ‘take-your-breath-away-moments. Life-changing moments. Nature touches us. Deeply. And transforms us. It transforms our relationship to the wider world – a world in need for its very survival and for the survival of the generations to come.
Being in wild nature opens the heart; it also opens doors to embodied knowing and a capacity for revelation, imagination and the ability to discover ones inner truth – all of which are sorely needed in our world. Discovering Self and soul in nature is one of the most deeply gratifying and soul-enriching experiences I have had the privilege to experience. I am moved by the even greater privilege of guiding others in finding this for themselves , and have the greatest faith that it is a path to a renewed world .
I invite each and every one of you to partake of this banquet. In fact, I highly recommend it! For those of you who have worked with me before, I invite you to come again to rediscover the mystery of your Self and bring that mystery back into your life for the good of those whose lives you touch, for the good of the planet, and for the good of all beings. For those who are new to SoulWorks, I invite you to dip your toe in … oh hell, jump in all the way! For it is in nature that you reveal yourself to yourself.
Please join me this fall … on the Pilgrimage to Chaco Canyon in September … or in The Four Directions Wheel Series. Both hold the promise of deep-diving into soul and nature ... I will be honored to sit in circle with you. As we each know ourselves more and more fully, rediscover and re-member ourselves, we become more and more capable of not only envisioning a new civilization, but of re-creating the one we are in. It is what the world needs. Answer the Call…
...And, as always....wherever your path leads you … I wish you well.
Love, Lily
