I have come to realize more and more the importance of our link with the natural world.  This isn’t just about the peace we might find walking through the woods, or sitting by a stream.  And it isn’t just about the changes we hope to see in the planet as more of us learn to care. 

It grows out of the fact that the living world is one.  This is the essence of Gaia, that we are all interrelated and connected.  It is the essence of what science now shows us, that there is a unified nature to reality.  All things have what might be called consciousness at some level – in fact, consciousness rather than matter is what we and the whole universe fundamentally are.  This doesn’t just define us individually but is like an energy field linking us with everything – unity in the midst of a huge and wonderful diversity.  It is not just science but has been experienced by many mystics.

The culture and world-view here in the West has been one of separation, seeing us as separate from each other, from our planet, and from God.  So even if we take this concept of unity on board, it can be difficult to see and experience it.  But if we did live like this, what a difference it would make, to our planet and to us.  Many are saying that for humanity to survive it must change, and for me a loving relationship and sense of unity with the earth is an important part of what would enable that.  We are linked, so change in one will reflect change in the other.

This is a piece that talks about that living energy of the universe, the essence that links all together.  I have called it God but do use your own words or concepts.

Open

There are times when it seems the whole world lies open like an oyster’s shell, its surfaces shining instead of dull, revealing instead of hiding.  Each face and leaf and shape and colour is charged like an ocean of spirit, like a thumbprint of the Divine.  All are painted with the same brush, the same loveliness, and I can feel the same life rising up in me to meet them.  As they open I open, or perhaps the other way around. 

They offer so much more than a back drop to my walking, they are the pattern of my thinking, they are beauty in my soul.  They all know each other and I am part of the knowing, we are strung together like stitches in a garment, like waves finding shore.  And the ocean, the secret smile that filters through, is an essence of joy, of completeness, of Spirit.  Each of us is an echo of glory, each of us traces the love lines of God.

As we live we create, making portraits of God, for God.  We take our little part of the Universe and wrap it in words or gesture, in paint or clay, in steel or brick or paper, and unfold the Divine in the picture of our days.  The Source of all Being shining through light and shadow, through shape and colour, through leaf and face.  The world is open and God is within.