Food for the Soul | April 22nd, 2020
04/22/2020
Dear Friends,
Our nature is loving awareness. In the midst of fighting COVID-19 we have a reminder that today is Earth Day. Let us bring today and in the following days our loving awareness to the trees that live with us and around us. Trees are the most successful forms of life. Trees provide us with oxygen and the rainforests are referred to as the lungs of the planet. It is time to honor the trees. The lungs of humanity and the lungs of the planet need healing and support. It is time to go within and discover our true nature as pure loving awareness.
A PRAYER – A PRACTICE – A POEM
A PRAYER
Canticle to the Sun by St. Francis of Assisi
Most High, all powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessing.
To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no man is worthy to mention Your name.
Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,
especially through my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day; and you give light through him.
And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
in heaven you formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene,
and every kind of weather through which
You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,
which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom you light the night and he is beautiful
and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains us and governs us and who produces
varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Praised be You, my Lord,
through those who give pardon for Your love,
and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.
Praised be You, my Lord,
through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no living man can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will
find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.
Praise and bless my Lord,
and give Him thanks
and serve Him with great humility.[3]
A PRACTICE
A Practice for Singing to the Trees
In honor of Earth Day I encourage you to join people everywhere in this practice of singing to the trees, developed by Beautiful Painted Arrow for The House of Mica Peace Chamber. I will give you here a summary of the five steps involved. If you prefer to see the full practice with video here is a link that will take you to it https://mailchi.mp/nycap/global-practice-singing-to-the-trees-loving-awareness.
Honoring: Begin by looking at an individual tree. Give thanks to the tree for all it provides that you can easily see – beauty, shade, fruit, nuts, home for the birds. Give thanks for all that trees give you that you cannot see, especially oxygen, which is essential to supporting life. Bow to the tree as a divine manifestation of Spirit, or God, or the Ultimate.
Sing to the Tree: Open your heart and begin singing to the tree. Include in your singing the Tiwa sound for tree – Pee Wheh Neh. Initially, be aware of the apparent separateness between you, the sound of your voice and the tree. Open your heart more and more and allow the tree to sing through you, to feed oxygen to you, to support your well-being. Honor the greatness of the tree and the greatness of the heart – Pee Wheh Neh.
Acknowledge One-ness: Allow the practice to deepen and shift. Know that the tree is within you. As you breathe, experience the inverted tree where your mouth is the bottom of the trunk of the tree. Each breath awakens a very lovely tree whose trunk is your throat and whose branches extend to your lungs and chest. Experience the light of the tree opening and healing all of the breathing passages of your lungs. Experience its vibrancy and the light of well-being spreading through your chest area and across your whole body, just as the branches and leaves of a tree spread into the clear blue sky. When you are filled with healing light and peace, focus on the beautiful clear blue sky.
Let the Mind Disappear into Silence: As you focus on the clear blue sky, let the mind disappear and enter the silent experience of being ONE with all creation. See yourself in all beings and all beings in yourself. Experience yourself as the unified field of consciousness that is indivisible, always and everywhere. Know that there is only loving awareness, without beginning, without end.
Accept the perfection that is right in front of you: After a time, come back to awareness of the body. Filled with light and peace, give thanks for this moment and all that is present. Embrace what is in front of you without grasping and without aversion, it is all a gift from God. Know that you are exactly where you need to be. Your presence is a gift. You are connected with all beings. You are loved. You are loving. You are love itself.
A POEM
Ancient Languageby Hannah Stephenson
If you stand at the edge of the forest
and stare into itevery tree at the edge will blow a little extra
oxygen toward you
It has been proven
Leaves have admitted it
The pines I have known
have been especially candid
One said
that all breath in this world
is roped together
that breathing is
the most ancient language