Green Tribe of Belonging

 On Easter Sunday, I walked into our Friends Meetinghouse and went to my usual place on one of the wooden benches at the far end of the meeting room. There was a soft folded cloth there to cushion my seat. But as usual, I moved it aside so I could sit directly on the wood. I always do this, and that day I wondered why. There is something about being in touch with the strong beautiful wood that makes me feel more rooted. There is a depth and a quiet energy that calls to me. Maybe, especially when we're quiet, we have the ability to sink into more than the present. Could I be feeling into the past of this tree, the growth rings, the green energy? Rather than being just a convenient piece of furniture, the old seasoned bench seemed to have a life of its own. As I sat quietly, resonating with the wood, I was reminded of a CD by Ken Cohen called Native Wisdom that I listened to long ago. On this recording, he told a Native American story about the beginning of the world: Stone was the 1...

This was a busy day for me, and I was preoccupied with responsibilities: would I get enough done? how much was left on my to-do list? how much can wait until tomorrow? In the early afternoon, I realized I needed some grounding, something to help me let go and relax. So rather than take a nap, I cuddled up on my bed and listened to the next installment in my CD recording of Lord of the Rings . When I'm going to sleep at night, I often listen to a recording of a book I already have read and that I like. That way I don't have to stay awake and can just enjoy the narrative until I fall asleep. Today it seemed just what I needed: listen to the next chapter of one of my all-time favorite books. I didn't want to sleep, just to get my mind free of the worries of the day. As I listened, fully awake and cozy, I marveled at Tolkien's writing and the story which seemed to fit so well with the times we are going through here on earth. Tolkien's land was make-believe, Middle Eart...

This is a message that is being sent to the members of the four Friends groups here in east/central Iowa. Feel free to share it with others who may be interested. And if you're too far away to travel here, you can start one for your own community!  Dear friends, The Earth Care Working Group is regrouping!  We invite you to join interested  F/friends for earth-centered community building, learning and sharing.  We’ll meet on the first Saturday afternoon of each month from 2:00 to approximately 4:00 pm at Prairie Hill’s Common House, 140 Prairie Hill Lane, Iowa City, 52246. During these challenging times, we seek to build on what is positive by creating an opportunity to support and learn from and with each other.  We’d like to take action in incorporating beneficial changes in our lives and communities.  Our first meeting will be Saturday, May 3.  At this first meeting, we’d like to gather to share interests and concerns.  In this way, the group ca...

 It is hard to pay attention to what is going on in our country these days, as well as in the wider world. Of course there are positive happenings too. But what arrives in the news feed tends to be pretty unsettling. Clearly we are in troubled times, not only as Americans, or as people in general. Even if you're a tree or a polar bear, uncomfortable change is coming. And these developments, whether it is political or economic or climate-based, are coming more quickly than we had anticipated. Some days I decide to delete all the news updates coming to my email. I save them for another day. I only want the news to have a certain amount of foothold on my energy. A message that I keep hearing is to gather together in small groups. In just one day last week, I heard from three separate people who live far away and are not folks I see often. Yet they all told me of groups they had joined that were important in giving them support and stability. The groups had different focuses: art, musi...

 I have just signed off from our sixth session of the Resilience and Acceptance course. Last week, I must admit that I struggled with accepting the state of the world right now, accepting the reality that we are already heading for the sixth extinction, and that it is too late to prevent it. It felt so very sad, such a tragedy. This was not just a story, but something all the people living now will experience soon. I thought of my grandchildren, and of young people all over, just starting in their lives and having to tackle the unraveling of culture that has already started. All week I vacillated between being angry and being sad. And I didn't start our homework for tonight's class until this morning. However, it was just what I needed to shift out of that dark mood. The focus in this week's class was on indigenous wisdom. We saw video clips of many indigenous elders explaining their view of the earth, their guides for living, their long history and traditions, and their an...

  Connections A phone charged by electric current. The bow sliding across cello strings. Baby rabbits suckling mother’s milk. Roots diving deep to find water. Middle C finding harmony with high G. Green vines winding around the fence post. White teeth crunching into delicious corn. A seed at last feeling the sun’s warmth. Eyes of strangers meeting and deeply knowing. A sense of connection across thousands of miles. Hearts touching even beyond death’s separation. Tiny thread woven into a great tapestry. Without connection, there would be only pieces. Each part independent and longing for more. With the force of touch, of contact, of closeness, we become a whole greater than all its parts.