Posted by ltlionheart | Filed under animals, nature, spirituality, Uncategorized
Time for Transformation
07 Tuesday May 2024
07 Tuesday May 2024
Posted by ltlionheart | Filed under animals, nature, spirituality, Uncategorized
22 Monday Apr 2024
Posted by ltlionheart | Filed under nature, spirituality, Uncategorized
15 Friday Mar 2024
Posted nature, poetry, spirituality
inYou said,
The way is in the sea
Thy path in great waters
I said,
But the sea is restless,
uncompromising,
opinionated,
immense.
That’s right, you said,
And it’s moody,
broody,
and unpredictable.
Exactly, I said.
The sea will teach you.
And it did.
I learnt to be held.
I learnt to be expansive
and immersive,
resilient,
variable,
versatile.
I learnt to respect
… and commit.
I learnt to be decisive,
unwary,
unafraid of failure.
The sea taught me this.
It taught me to be held.
(Lyn Beattie)
29 Tuesday Aug 2023
Spring announces the end of hibernation;
the labor of winter now completed
Life bursts forth from the stillness
Nature finds the energy we lack;
the optimism we left behind,
the warmth we need to heal
Snow melt becomes roaring green rivers
Floral emblems appear on dry branches
Bird songs replace the cold silence
Life claims authority over death
Vitality overtakes fatigue and fragility
We awaken; refreshed and renewed
28 Sunday May 2023
Posted nature, poetry, spirituality, wonder
inTags
The Spirit brooding
breathing over the waters
The Word speaking out
articulating nature
into being
Eloihym making
fashioning
and fattening
New earth
vibrant, vigorous
unspoiled
Ferns unfurling
growth
fertility
birthing
Birthing and rebirthing
forming and reforming
knowing and reknowing
redeeming, renewing
The scent of resurrection
death birthing life
in the soil (adamah)
Human beings
consecrated
within the beginning
09 Tuesday May 2023
Posted animals, nature, spirituality, Uncategorized
inFour years ago our youngest daughter bought a Maremma sheepdog puppy and, as we were all living under the same roof, Jessie became a part of our family and a part of our daily lives. She was the cutest puppy; resembling a rolly polly polar bear cub. Although this breed is not recommended as a pet, given it is a working dog, Jessie grew into her place in our family and grew into her 40kg self. Maremmas have been bred to guard flocks of sheep in Italy and are large, loyal and protective dogs. As such, they bark at any potential threats so need to live in spaces that are able to accommodate this behaviour regardless of whether or not they are ‘working’.
Recently, we decided to give Jessie the opportunity to live out her fullest shepherding potential. After observing her tendency to chase after our three adult chickens, we decided to buy three day-old chicks that would not flap and squawk and excite Jessie to pursue them. Our goal during the first week of this experiment was to keep the chicks alive and slowly imprint them onto Jessie. Chicks are hard-wired to look for a mother hen during these early days and they are not too discerning (or fussy) about who or what becomes their ‘mother’. During the first week, we spent an hour a day in the orchard introducing Jessie to her new charges and rewarding her with treats for not eating the tiny fluffballs that thought she was their mother.
As the weeks passed, it became clear that Jessie could be trusted with the chicks and that she understood the guardianship of these small birds was her responsibility. It was impressive to see how intuitively she checked the boundary fences and barked at potential threats including rabbits, birds, cyclists and unexpected visitors belonging to any species. Two thousand years of genetic selection for guarding livestock had prepared Jessie well for the task at hand and she seemed to find new purpose and meaning in the shepherding vocation.
The chicks learnt to hear the ‘shepherd’s voice’ and ran for cover when Jessie’s bark took on a serious tone. They had become imprinted onto an entirely different species believing that ‘the white wolf” (as we call her) was their protective ‘mother hen’. It was such a joy to witness the tenderness and trust between these vastly different species of animals especially given they would normally be separated by the predator-prey dynamic.
And I am reminded of the words from the Hebrew-Greek sacred text that tell us God is like a mother hen or a good shepherd. Jessie is teaching me new ways of understanding these old truths.
10 Tuesday Jan 2023
Posted nature, Uncategorized
inTags
We have a poplar tree near our house. They are deciduous with a strong vertical growth habit. In fact, the side branches do not go out horizontally like many trees but grow upwards in alignment with the trunk. Because of their narrow, upright appearance, in Australia, they are sometimes found lining long country driveways. Also, because of their love of moisture they can be found growing naturally along a creek. Our tree stands alone, amongst many Australian natives.
Unfortunately, we have experienced a long run of dry years in our region and our poplar was struggling. In fact, each spring we wondered if it would return to life again after its winter rest. Things got so bad that the main trunk died and broke off half-way along its length. And then in the last couple of years we have had generous rains and the poplar has decided to live again. But it has not grown a new trunk. Instead, the side branches reach out and now provide shade for us. The transformation has been remarkable – the tree is now not recognisable as a poplar, unless you are quite familiar with the bark pattern and the leaf shape.
Sometimes renewal can restore a tree to look exactly the way it would have looked and sometimes it is a transformative experience. In the former situation the poplar would have regrown its main trunk and become little different from others of its kind. In the latter, the poplar has created a new life for itself, offering shade and a beauty closer to earth rather than in lofty heights.
This caused me to think about our human journeys, where trauma has been involved. Perhaps there is a parallel there?