Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Breathing and Lenten Week 3.5

Dear Readers;

Lent calls upon us to fall in love with creation, all over again. What does this mean? How can I do this? I mean ... really do this. When did this earth, who gives us her everything ~ including her life ~ become necessary collateral? When did we forget ... the ashes, the soil, the bosom that feeds us, has always fed us? When did we forget ... where we come from? When did we forget our cosmic status as dirt creatures, brought to life by a blown breath of Divine wind, and humbly formed by dust? And why do we want to elevate the economy above things we need to sustain life? 

Life, true life distills itself down to two moments of action ~ our first, our last: breath. Breathe, and you shall know. When you find breathing a struggle, then you understand the frailty, the vulnerability inherent within us each, and all. Drink and you shall know. When you encounter burning thirst which you cannot quench, then you shall remember that water provides the chaos and structure upon which physical life precariously perches.

Embracing embodiment, loving our bodies, and knowing our bodies from the inside out seems, somehow, inadequate if we forget to embrace our mother, mother earth. I constantly find myself in awe of mother nature ... her beauty delights and surprises me as though seen for the first time. I hope to always harbour such delight, such awe, such surprise in my explorations of mother earth.

This photo (taken yesterday on a walk to Nanaimo skytrain station) and the Sonnet by Rainer Maria Rilke express so sweetly and succinctly the sentiment I wish to convey, today.

Feather Weight?

Sonnets to Orpheus [Part One] No. 4

You who let yourselves feel: enter the breathing
that is more than your own.
Let it brush your cheeks
as it divides and rejoins behind you.

Blessed ones, whole ones,
you where the heart begins:
You are the bow that shoots the arrows
and you are the target.

Fear not the pain. Let its weight fall back
into the earth;
for heavy are the mountains, heavy the seas.

The trees you planted in childhood have grown
too heavy. You cannot bring them along.
Give yourselves to the air, to what you cannot hold.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

wordless - please excuse, so very impressive.

X. Dell said...

Nice picture. If I'm not mistaken, a focussed feather with blades of grass in the background. I wish you success in bracing what is good about yourself and life.

Unknown said...

Breath taking - your poetry, hers, the photo - I love all of it. i think I'd like to sit in it for a few minutes...

Yours,
Megan

p.s. thanks for stopping by my blog, I really appreciate you commenting.

Jo said...

Oh, that's beautiful.

And I love the photograph. It suits the poem.

I just saw in your profile that your name is Roxanne. What a pretty name.

Cheers,

Jo

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