Chasing Shadows

Meditations on Nature

The earth laughs in flowers.

                                            Ralph Waldo Emerson

"People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on the earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle."   
                                              Thich Nhat Hanh

           "One of the most important and most neglected elements in the 
        beginning of the interior life is the ability to see the value and  the
        beauty in ordinary things, to come alive to the splendor that is around
        us."                                              

                                                          Thomas Merton

     Everything beckons to us.
 

Here is what I tell myself. Be aware, life is what is happening now.

Music for the Spirit

Calvin Standing Bear

James Torres

                Yesterday on my mystic meanderings I stopped at again one of my
favorite places. A place of beauty, creativity, history, and best of all friendships. This place that I hold dear to my heart, has long been a part of my history here in Colorado.  The place I speak of is the trading post of Charles Eagle Plume. On this particular day Calvin Standing Bear and James Torres were performing music of the spirit. His soothing tranquil tones of the cedar flute with keyboard, created songs of musical prayers and meditation in time honored Native tradition.  This flute music provided a backdrop for another native tradition, fry bread, of which I truly enjoyed. Inside the trading post I was lost in native American art work that was to me fascinating.  Watching the tedious art of porcupine quilling, to the beautiful paintings of Arthur Short Bull drove home, for me, the importance of appreciating a culture that is quickly moving away from a society that knows little of times past. At a time of such turmoil, we need to share this music, art and history as a way of preserving a simple way of life. If you would be interested in Calvin's music he can be found at www.calvinstandingbear.org Arthur Short Bull's paintings can be seen at www.dawnhawk.org What a wonderful joyous time I had on my mystic meanderings, and I can only thank God for showing me the connection to the beautiful, meaningful, parts of life. He is truly a gracious and loving creator.

Chapel on the Rocks

         " Upon this rock I shall build my church". (Matt 16:18) 

    I have for years loved the Chapel on the Rocks. The old church was conceived in 1916 by Father Boesitti. Twenty years later his dream came to be. Thousands of visitors have come to this chapel every year. Pope Paul II visited here during his trip to Denver. I was last in the chapel in August of 2010. Since then a fire has destroyed the conference center, and the chapel and center is now closed to visitors. Today I was fortunate to catch a reflection of the chapel on the pond that sits below the chapel. St. Malo sits at the foot of Mt. Meeker, where many motorists and cyclists pull of the road to take photos of this beautiful landscape. I'm truly blessed to be in a place where beauty and nature together sing the praises of our creator.

A Collection of Flying Jewels

  

Thinness

                         Not long ago I took a drive to the top of the world and found and experienced what John O' Donohue calls "thin places." The clouds that day were hanging low at an elevation of eight-thousand feet. I've taken this Trail Ridge drive many many times, but have never been enveloped in clouds so thick and heavy.  It was a surreal feeling being surrounded by such beauty veiled in a curtain of soft loving light. The only view I had was from side to side, everything in front and back was completely obscured by the clouds. The image above was one of many images that were taken that day.                          
                   The Irish describe "thin places" as anyplace on earth where the veil separating the seen world from the unseen world is so slender, so permeable, that these two worlds can momentarily touch, even overlap. Thomas Keating also describes this phenomena in his video The  Eternal Now. He says," It is in this spot that the unseen breaks in upon the seen.  The sacred slips in through the apparently ordinary." Mahatma Gandhi described it this way: "There is an undefinable, mysterious power that pervades everything. I feel it, though I do not see it. It is this unseen power that makes itself felt and yet defies all proof, because it is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses. It transcends the senses."
                    The fortunate photographer is one who, finding such places, finds a way to capture that delicate veil hoping that a bit of the unseen will filter onto the final image. It may or may not. The transcendent is known to transcend cameras too.
                     John O'Donohue was an Irish Cathloic priest best known for his poems and books on spirituality. Some of my favortie books by him include: Anam Cara, Bless the Space Between Us, The invisible Embrace. If you have time, discover John O'Donohue and his many poems and books.

Horsin Around

I couldn't resist this sculpture. I don't think I have ever come across such an interesting placement of wooden branches. At first, I was in awe of how each and every piece of wood has to come together in a certain way, place, size and  arrangement. I guess these types of experiences is one of the side effects of photography. It becomes difficult not to see potential images however contemplative, odd, beautiful or unusual, enlightening, sad, or joyful, as well as, the creativity of  artists. I believe the task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought about that everybody sees. Therefore, the only real thing in the world is imagination. I'm always grateful for those who bring to our world the beauty of their imaginations, talent, and creativity. I think of the world's greatest like Leonardo's Mona Lisa as just a thousand smears of paint. Michelangelo's David as just a million hits with a hammer. We are all of us a million bits put together in just the right way. Just as this wooden horse comes together in just the right way constitutes the beauty, balance, and again the imagination of all things seen or unseen. 

An Inspiration of a Tree

The oaks and the pines, and their brethren of the wood, have seen so many suns rise and set, so many seasons come and go, and so many generations pass into silence, that we may well wonder what "the story of the trees" would be to us if they had tongues to tell it, or we ears fine enough to understand.  How many years, how many travelers, storms, cold, heat, walkers, bikers, runners, on and on

has this deformed and bent tree watched over time that is not really time?
Time is already time. It is manifested in the eternal, the consciousness of nature which is timeless and therefore does not evolve.  In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says,"Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." Who are the meek? Those that are awakened to their essential nature, and recognize that essence in all "others" and all life forms. The image, of this unusual tree for example, is inseparable from the human consciousness that perceives and interacts with it.  It is like interacting with the Divine source from which everything comes. In this way endowing the seemingly simple with profound meaning. The purpose for our existence may be to do and see the sacred manner in all that is, as in each human being, and every part of nature which is an integral part of the collective human consciousness

     "The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity...and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of man with imagination, nature is imagination itself."
                                                                      William Blake
                                                                         

No Longer Used

                                          so much depended upon

                                           this rusty wheelbarrow

                                           glazed with soft dappled
                                            light 

                                            beside the worn barn boards

                                            rusty wheelbarrow no longer
                                            used.

Trees

"A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease. Every hidden cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings, while incense is ever flowing from the balsam bells and leaves. No wonder the hills and groves were God's first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself."- John Muir

 

Between every two pine trees is a doorway to a new world.
                                              John Muir

Harmony and Balance

Some days you just need to  go out and stack some stones. Right?  Out by the river I started wandering looking for a good selection of rocks. The right shape, size, color, and the ability to get along in the stack. Next, I found and felt time to begin putting the rocks together.  First, some failure and some flops, but eventually a good and pleasing balance. In this process finding balance in self begins to emerge. Searching  for harmony and balance, one is apt to discover that neither the earth, nor the soul, is ultimately knowable, understandable, or predictable. In seeing beauty in nature, I can see beauty in others.  Listening to the wind in the trees can be like hearing the murmuring of the soul. When  I am aware of what is around me, I can respond to the essence of another person. Making a personal contact with another human being and still remain free, whole, and present is the ultimate experience. I soon become grateful for the ability to experience the mystery in my communion with nature and another person.

           " If the only prayer you say in your life is "thank you," that would suffice."    Meister Eckhart

Working Hard for Honey

Darwin was stung into silence by these little creatures, asking, “What shall I say concerning the honeybee...?” The following is his observations.

That bees make their cells in perfect hexagonal forms, sparrows build their nests with straw, beavers build dams, and rabbits dig burrows in the ground, are all proofs of God’s creation of separate species. Such animal behaviors are signs of the existence of God, who created the universe and all life forms flawlessly.

Who gave bees all these extraordinary characteristics? How did these creatures, which can perform calculations impossible for human beings and have been equipped with so many features, come into existence? How is it that as soon as these insects emerge from their cocoons, they are able to perform such unbelievable tasks, without the benefit of any special training? How are these unthinking creatures able to establish such an organizational structure? Moreover, how is it that they all fulfill their duties within such a communal order? The organization among them is so perfect that it can only be the work of a superior being.

As I consider all these questions, one truth emerges: It is  God who gave bees all these astonishing characteristics. As He does in all the living things He has created. In bees God reveals His infinite wisdom and incomparable creation. A person who witnesses this creation must praise God.

A Paradox

   I recieved this picture in an email the other day. I had to laugh at the humor it portrays.  As I delved deeper into the message, it brings thoughts and ideas about what squirrel is overlooking. It seems to me to be a metaphor of our lives in today's culture. As Lao Tzu wrote in the TaoTe Ching. "The words of truth are always paradoxical." We may be attracted to noble ideas of truth, but our egos usually reject what the truth calls upon us to do. In lieu of wisdom, serenity, humility, peace, patience or any other truth we chase the rigors of "things". The things that tend to fill a need of want, something that will ease and soothe, or feed egoic longings. Something that is counter-intuitive, at least initally. Indeed the things to which we are drawn like squirrel seems inherently contradicting, and therein, of course, lies the paradox.

Everyday Miracles

Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly

Einstein once said that there are only two ways to live your life. "One as though nothing is a miracle. The other as though everything is a miracle." Let it be said that I belong to the second group. When I look in any direction, I am left in awe and wonder at the miracles of life. They rise from the earth, they dance upon the wind, they sparkle in the night sky, they are anywhere and everywhere. They are freely given, they are manifestations of grace, and they ask nothing of us in return, except perhaps that we find time to pay attention to their resplendent, life-affirming beauty. During the past couple of days, I have tried to slow down and pay more attention to the miracles occurring moment to moment in my own backyard. What I have discovered is nothing less than miraculous-life unfolding in more colors and more varieties than one could quite imagine. Enjoy!

Leaves Speak - a Cinquain

 Leaves Speak

 

                                            Leaves speak

                             To those whose hearts

                             Are still enough to hear

                             Subsonic music laconic

                             And clear. 

                                   I have a room all to myself, it is nature.
                                      Thoreau's Journal (January 3, 1853)

Finding Silence

 

The images today have to do with light - physical light, spiritual light or both.  I am so awed by the silence and stillness of the beauty of the trees, mountains, and clouds.  It is the essence of everything that the universe holds. I find a balance in the physical and spiritual environment, two unique designs existing in perfect harmony. Some how I find a lesson in that.

These images remind me of one of my favorite novelists and spiritual writers Frederick Buechner.  He says,"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness; touch, taste, smell, see your way to the holy and hidden heart  because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace."

                                   From Listening to Your Life