Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here And you must treat it as a powerful stranger, Must ask permission to know it and be known. The forest breathes. Listen. It answers, I have made this place around you. If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here. No two trees are the same to Raven. Not two branches are the same to Wren. If what a tree or bush does is lost on you, You are surely lost. Stand still. The Forest knows Where you are. You must let it find you. David Wagoner Who Shall Be the Sun
Here are a few other expressions that speak to the treasures within Eco-contemplative awareness.
Creation not only exists, it also discharges truth…Wisdom requires a surrender, verging on the mystical, of a person to the glory of existence.Gerhard Von Rad (43.165)
The extravagant gesture is the very stuff of creation.After the one extravagant gesture of creation in the first place, the universe has continued to deal exclusively in extravagances, flinging intricacies and colossi down eons of emptiness, heaping profusions on profligacy’s with ever fresh vigor.The whole show has been on fire from the word go!Annie Dillard
The universe is the primary revelation of the divine, the primary scripture, the primary locus of divine-human communion.Thomas Berry
Do you have a body?Don’t sit on the porch!Go out and walk in the rain! Kabir
For more thought candy, I have a whole page of favorite Quotes
Eco-contemplative Retreats
at the Earthwalk Center
Refer to the section on Natural Communion Foundationsto learn more about Natural Communion as the context of all supported Eco-contemplative retreats at the Earthwalk Center. The 101 class needed for exploring this work is called Natural Communion Consciousness. Learn a simple technique working with attention that helps you become more present to self and nature. From there you can spend the rest of your retreat simply practicing presence and being, or you can include some of the other types of Natural Communion Experiences that are offered. Natural Communion time is well worth including in all types of retreats.
