For the Earth

For a week I have had the privilege of watching a herd of deer cavort in an open meadow, bluebirds poke into last year’s berth with beaks full of grass, and the phoebe add fresh greens to her ancient nest above the door.  I am a visitor to this place, which so clearly is theirs that I have hesitated to even walk the land for fear of warning them off their spring brooding habits.

The lesson that doing less, or nothing at all, may be our best hope for the planet has not been lost on me during this week of rest, reading and quiet looking.

Perhaps the question isn’t “what can we do,” but rather “what shall we not do” in most circumstances concerning the natural world.

I am convinced anew after this week that a certain quietism, a slowing down (practicing gratitude, awe, sufficiency) are greatly to be wished for — I know that in this I myself am a work in progress, and not always an impressive one.

But today, as I pause and give my thoughts over to the ordinary moments here that have revealed the higher virtues which even we voracious humans can claim, I must acknowledge that certain actions are beneficial, and are beneficial under nearly all circumstances, including those in which we find ourselves today.

They are, briefly:

— Remembering:

We have not always been so hurried, so harried, so anxious.  Remembering dusty hours in summer libraries, camp fires and skipping stones, the first book that made our heart race for its intricate beauty, the sound of a parent playing the piano as we drifted off to sleep.  Remembering goodness, as it has touched us, is the best way I know to generate it for others.

— Teaching the young to read, to love stories, and to love nature:

Literacy opens kingdoms, and ensures that our children will be able to inform themselves about whatever they become passionately interested in.  The habit of reading — books and the natural world — like the habit of memory, integrates so many brain functions that aren’t stimulated by digital media, television or video games.  It has the added reward of being just about the most satisfying way one can send time with little ones.

— Prayer/Mindfulness:

The best life is a real life, and a real life is maintained — not achieved.  This is done by catching ourselves in our illusions, and compassionately leading ourselves back to the path…day after day after day.

— Improvisation:

I’ve learned that behaving more like a hunter-gatherer than a householder is freeing.  When one expects nothing except to be surprised, when one stumbles upon the bits and flotsam of treasure that each day tosses up, and tries to make something of them — beauty, meaning — it’s easy to let go of so much that can stand in the way: regrets, resentments, attitude.

We control so little.  Wouldn’t it be grand to take what comes our way for the gift that it actually is?

Just my thoughts today, for the earth…for the deer, the bluebirds, the phoebes and the rest of us.