Solitude is the furnace of transformation.

"Solitude is the furnace of transformation."

Henri Nouwen

I am headed to the Utah canyon country for the next four days for my annual post-Thanksgiving retreat. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, that I might receive spiritual insight.  Thank you :)

Photo: Solitary Ponderosa Pine and Long's Peak; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 22, 2013

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The Paradox of Thanksgiving

I am not happy that the Puritans who celebrated the first Thanksgiving thought of themselves as superior to the Indigenous peoples whose land they invaded. However, I am thankful that Euro-Americans are now realizing that these peoples - when they are able to live in their traditional manner - are usually far ahead of the rest of us in their capacity to commune with the land and to understand themselves as an integral part of a living, breathing Mother Earth. Indeed, without their profound wisdom, none of us will be able to survive.

I am disturbed that many of our European ancestors devastated large portions of the Native populations through massacre, disease and attempted assimilation. However, I am thankful that Native Americans and First Nations peoples can teach us - through ceremonies such as the sundance, sweat lodge and vision quest - that we all must SACRIFICE something of ourselves if we are ever to enable the Creator's power to act through us to bring healing to the world.

I feel devastated by the knowledge that many of our modern-day Native peoples are struggling with the rape of their culture, and with the perils of trying to live in two worlds at the same time. However, I am thankful for the opportunity to help support Indigenous causes and projects such as this: http://winyanmaka07.webs.com/

I am upset that our Western corporate industrial complex - recently adopted by Eastern nations as well - has damaged our air, water, forests, and the health of all creatures, and has seriously altered our climate, even though our species is supposedly one that is known for being WISE - "Homo sapiens." However, I am thankful that this very destruction has caused us to stop taking for granted the preciousness of our Earth, and of our remaining National Parks, Wilderness areas, state parks, and open spaces. In fact, since that very industrial system has produced spacecraft that are able to bring us images - from the vantage-point of space - of our beautiful "Blue Planet," we are now more aware than ever of the amazing gift of life on Earth.

I am sad when historic natural disasters - like earthquakes and volcanoes - have killed multitudes of people, devastated entire towns, and made the surrounding landscapes barren for many decades. However, I am incredibly thankful that fault lines have created mountains, and that the resulting volcanic soil has produced lush forests and prolific wildflower gardens. Such is the case especially here, at Mount Rainier, often called "the most dangerous mountain in America" because of the many cities that lie in the path of its eventual eruption. Because the perilous beauty of Rainier is so intense, I find myself drawn to make a pilgrimage to the mountain each summer.

In all of these cases, we as human beings fulfill our sacred calling best when we work to become agents of love and beauty appearing in the midst of death and destruction. Through a thankful attitude that seeks tenaciously to uncover the divine presence hidden within all things - including especially tragedy - we give birth to a beauty that rises - improbably, almost - from the ashes of ignorance, cultural ego-inflation and outright evil.

Photo: Magenta Paintbrush and a foggy Mount Rainier; Spray Park, Mount Rainier National Park, WA; July 28, 2013

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Gratitude is heaven itself.

"Gratitude is heaven itself."

William Blake  

Photo: Last light on the Lumpy Ridge, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 23, 2013

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The trees and rocks are flowered with snow!

"All the trees and the bushes are flowered beyond summer, bowed down in snow bloom, and all the rocks are buried. The day after the 'storm' (a most damnable name for the flowering of the clouds), I lay out on the meadow to eat a grand meal of new-made beauty!"

The Contemplative John Muir

Photo: Twin Sisters Peak and Ponderosa Pines after last week's snow; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 22, 2013

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Reading the book of Nature.

"A certain member of what was then considered the circle of the wise once approached the just Antony and asked him: 'How do you ever manage to carry on, Father, deprived as you are of the consolation of books?' His reply: 'My book, sir philosopher, is the nature of created things, and it is always at hand when I wish to read the word of God.' "

Evagrius Ponticus,
4th century Egypt

Photo: "The Book," Lumpy Ridge, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 23, 2013. The Book is quite popular with rock climbers. Antony was a monk who lived in the Egyptian desert.

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That which we seek is within us.

"The fabled musk deer searches the world over for the source of the scent which comes from itself.

Ramakrishna

Photo: Mule deer in the snow; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 22, 2013

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Nature-God asks much and gives much.

"Nature-God asks much & gives much & if we only are pure in heart we will see him in all times, & in all lands."

The Contemplative John Muir

I'm intrigued by the word Muir creates here: "Nature-God." A good mystic, he realizes that the two realities are not different, not the same, but . . . ?

Photo: Cliff Paintbrush, Mount Rainier National Park, WA; July 28, 2013.

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In winter, you can feel the bone structure of the landscape.

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure in the landscape - the loneliness of it - the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it - the whole story doesn't show."

Andrew Wyeth,
American painter

Photo: Aspen trees in the snow, with Long's Peak in the background; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 22, 2013

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We are called to take moments of beauty, make a perfume out of them, and then anoint the mundane events of daily life.

Oftentimes our daily lives - filled as they are with challenging events, people whose vision may conflict with ours, and the seeming drabness of a repetitive round of chores - may seem devoid of beauty. However, if we take our sporadic experiences of beauty, even if they occur only once a day, and blend these memories into a kind of distilled "essence of beauty," we then will have available to us a sort of perfume - like a bottle filled with concentrated pine scent - that we can apply to all of the various mundane events of the day. Indeed, that is a major part of our calling as human beings. Some people find that concentrated essence of beauty in a religious presence - like Jesus, the Buddha, a Hindu goddess, or a temple. Others find it in Nature's beauty. And still others - like myself - are called to do both.

Photo: Ponderosa Pines, a rock outcrop, and the snowy landscape at dusk; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 22, 2013

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Life's challenges are effective in revealing the Light of Divine grace.

Light rays passing through space are imperceptible unless they encounter dust particles, asteroids or planets that resist their continued travel and bounce the light back to the observer's eye.  Similarly, challenges in our lives may seem like mountains that resist any further progress along the path toward whatever goal we are journeying. However, it is precisely those obstacles that make the Light of Divine grace visible in all of its beauty and glory.

Photo: Last light on the Lumpy Ridge, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 23, 2013

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Nature's modes work towards beauty and joy.

"Nature's modes work towards beauty and joy."

The Contemplative John Muir

Photo: Avalanche Lilies, Mount Rainier National Park, July 28, 2013

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The Day's Last Greeting

There are an amazing number of times when, although it is cloudy all day, right at sunset, the sun suddenly peeks through the clouds and shines on the ridge tops in all of its gold splendor. This happens so often, that I frequently am tempted almost to expect the phenomenon. It's sort of like the day is giving a last greeting before it ends!

Photo: Last light on the Lumpy Ridge, Rocky Mountain National Park; November 23, 2013

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The snowy mountain landscape is all one finished unit of divine beauty!

"I rode to the very end of the valley gazing from side to side, thrilled almost to pain with the feast of snowy diamond loveliness . . . It is all one finished unit of divine beauty, weighed in the celestial balances and found perfect."

The Contemplative John Muir

Thursday's snow made the mountain landscape unbelievably beautiful. For some reason, the snow has stayed on the evergreens longer than usual, making the contrast between the snow and foliage especially heightened.

Photo: Dried grasses, Ponderosa Pines and snow, with Long's Peak in the distance; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 22, 2013

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The light bathing the mountains appears to come from within!

"God who is Light has led me tenderly from light to light to the shoreless ocean of rayless, beamless Spirit Light that bathes these holy mountains . . . The light does not seem to lie only on the surface but seems fairly to saturate and make the whole cliff glow to its center as if the light came from within."

The Contemplative John Muir

Photo: Last light on the Lumpy Ridge, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 23, 2013

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A Wounded Healer

"No one can help anyone without becoming involved, without entering with his whole person into the painful situation, without taking the risk of becoming hurt, wounded or even destroyed in the process. The beginning and the end of all spiritual leadership is to give your life for others . . . Who can save a child from a burning house without taking the risk of being hurt by the flames? Who can listen to a story of loneliness and despair without taking the risk of experiencing similar pains in his own heart and even losing his precious peace of mind? In short: Who can take away suffering without entering it? . . . The great illusion of leadership is to think that a person can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there."

Henri Nouwen,
"The Wounded Healer"

Photo: Bent and broken Ponderosa Pines, with Long's Peak in the distance; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 22, 2013

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Photo: Bent and broken Ponderosa Pines, with Long's Peak in the distance; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 22, 2013

Nature photography elicits a sense of hope for a better future.

"I am not afraid of beauty, of poetry, of sentiment. I think it is just as important to bring to people the evidence of the beauty of the world of nature and of man as it is to give them a 'document' of ugliness, squalor, and despair. For every grim image of Harlem there should be some buoyant truthful image of a hopeful society and some image of the natural scene . . . Is there no way photography can be used to suggest a better life?"

Ansel Adams, responding to those who critiqued his work as having little social significance

Photo: Golden Columbines, Glacier National Park, MT; August 1, 2013

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God is this great feeling of solitude with which we are all born.

"God is this great feeling of solitude with which we are all born."

Ernesto Cardenal, 

Nicaraguan poet and former monk

Photo: Horse, Ponderosa Pine and red cliffs in the snow, near Bellvue, CO; November 21, 2013

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Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.

"Wonder is the beginning of wisdom."

Socrates

Photo: Indian Paintbrush, Lower Blue Lake and surrounding peaks; San Juan Range, CO; August 10, 2013

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True silence is the rest of the mind.

“True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body – nourishment and refreshment.”

William Penn   

Photo: Ponderosa Pine and red cliffs in the snow; Lory State Park, CO; November 21, 2013

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Every being is a variation on every other being.

The resemblance of our subalpine Elephanthead flowers to actual elephants reminds me of a deeper truth - namely, that every being is a variation on every other being.  Thus, for example, a person is a human version of  a mountain peak, and a mountain peak is a mountainous version of humanity!

Photo: An Elephanthead blooms next to Middle Blue Lake; San Juan Mountains, CO; August 10, 2013

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An authentic adult is someone who knows their place in the Earth Community.

"An authentic ADULT is someone who experiences herself, first and foremost, as a member of the EARTH community, has encountered her soul (has had a revelatory experience of her unique place in the Earth community, her ultimate place in the more-than-human world), acquired some practical and culturally-effective means for embodying this place among her people, made a commitment to doing so, and is doing it.

"A true ELDER is someone who, after many years of adulthood, consistently occupies his ultimate place in the Earth community without any further effort to do so.  This frees him for something with yet greater scope and depth and fulfillment, namely, caring for the soul of the world [the anima mundi].  He does this by assisting others to prepare for, discover, and embody their souls, and by supporting the more-than-human community of Earth in the evolution of ITS soul."

Bill Plotkin  

I myself have a ways to go in becoming an adult and an elder, but this is my dream :)

Photo: Subalpine Firs and Goat Island Mountain; Mount Rainier National Park, WA; July 29, 2013

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Our birthdays are actually a celebration of the birth of a unique perspective that the Earth has of herself.

On this, the day of my birth, I am acutely aware that this is not so much MY birthday.  Instead, it is a celebration of the birth of a unique perspective that THE EARTH has on herself.  For I - like all of us - am simply a  special way in which the Anima Mundi - the World Soul - perceives, enjoys and celebrates her own goodness and beauty.  Thus, my birthday is actually one of Her birthdays. As Bill Plotkin says, "The world cannot be fully ITSELF until you become fully YOURSELF.  Your soul is part of the soul of the world.  How we live our lives has a direct effect on the anima mundi.  The world needs us to recognize its sacredness and to discover and inhabit our sacred roles in its evolutionary unfolding."  I ask that I might give myself over to that celebratory role in the coming year.

Photo: Cliff Paintbrush and Mt. Rainier emerging from the fog; Spray Park, Mount Rainier National Park, WA; July 28, 2013

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There is finally just One reality in the cosmos: the realm of mutual bliss dwelling between Mother Earth and Father Sky.

It is so easy to fall into a mentality where we think reality consists of living before people, with all of their agendas, judgments, and quirks, all of which correspond to the same problematic qualities dwelling within US. But I find that times of frustration with people - and with my own shortcomings - drive me to the realization that in reality, there are only THREE present in the world. These include Father Sky (God, the Great Beyond, Emptiness), Mother Earth (the Goddess, Gaia, the world of form-and-flow) and the human soul - residing in the middle between these other Two. Each person - including ourselves - is actually a variation on this place in the middle. But ultimately, when I'm finally left with just these three, I awaken to the fact that there is actually only the ONE: the realm of mutual love dwelling like a turquoise lake of bliss between the other Two. For both Mother Earth and Father Sky are actually, we might imagine, mirrors in which the reflections of Each Other occur without any Originals being present! For Each is forever emptied in ecstatic bliss into the middle realm - the place where WE live our lives, inhabited by this wonderful sense of mutuality that is Itself a living Presence - the ananda (bliss) of the Holy Spirit / Holy Soul.

Photo: Sky, peaks, Rose Crown wildflowers, and Lower Blue Lake in the middle; San Juan Range, CO; August 10, 2013

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To exist everywhere, I have to be No-one.

"To be one with One Whom one cannot see is to be hidden, to be nowhere, to be no one; it is to be unknown as He is unknown, forgotten as He is forgotten, lost as He is lost to the world which nevertheless exists in Him.  Yet to live in Him is to . . . be the hidden instrument of His Divine action, the messenger of His infinite Love . . . I disappear from the world as an object of interest in order to be everywhere in it by hiddenness and compassion.  To exist everywhere I have to be No-one."

Thomas Merton   

Photo: A mini-iceberg rests on The Loch; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 15, 2013

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What is the future of our corporate-industrial society?

"The mass of humanity serve the state not as people mainly, but as machines, with their bodies . . . Let us not have such a machine any longer . . . Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine."

Henry David Thoreau

What is the future of our corporate-industrial society? Will human beings continue to become mere cogs in an impersonal machine? Will people be so busy they no longer have quality time left over for friends and family? Will we realize once and for all that "Living is more important than getting a living," as John Muir once said? Will we learn to view the Earth as a living being rather than as a complicated machine? Will we wake up to the wonder and beauty of this amazing planet? Will we do it soon?

Photo: A Mule Deer looks down on Fort Collins, CO. The factory belongs to Anheiser-Busch. November 18, 2013

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We can seek refuge from predatory emotions by camouflaging ourselves with the Ground of Being.

Today I was meditating under a Ponderosa Pine at the top of a ridge near my home.  When I opened my eyes after twenty minutes, I saw what appeared to be a pine needle walking toward me.  When it stopped, I had difficulty distinguishing it from the surrounding needles.  This "walking-stick bug" - as it is often called - reminded me that when afflictive emotions arise - like fear, self-deprecation and anger - I can seek refuge by camouflaging myself, identifying with the underlying Ground of Being rather than give the predatory emotion anything to "see" and feed upon.

Photo: Walking-stick bug; Reservoir Ridge Natural Area, Larimer County, CO; November 18, 2013

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Seeing into the true nature of people and situations is not easy!

Sometimes I'm amazed at the ways in which our own personal psychological conditioning distorts our perception of the true nature of people and situations.  In my own case, if I think I'm being given "the silent treatment" by people, my mind begins to impute all sorts of attitudes and motivations to them that simply are not true.  It's no wonder that some meditation teachers call this a case of "monkey-mind" (kapicitta). A mind in this state really IS like a monkey that moves ceaselessly from branch to branch, never able to remain still and centered. Like a pond agitated by continual breezes, we find ourselves hindered from seeing reflections of the REAL - the pure snowy mountain peaks that represent the true divinity of the person or situation. I ask this day for the grace to let go of these sorts of perceptual pond-ripples and instead learn to train my mind to mirror the situation as it actually is.  In my own case, this means simply saying "I don't really know HOW to interpret a person's silence," and then leaving it at that.

Photo: Spirea bush, Picture Lake, and a reflection of Mount Rainier; Mount Rainier National Park, WA; July 30, 2013 

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The Maker's radiant sight made radiant every thing He saw.

"[W]hen the Maker's radiant sight

Made radiant every thing He saw,

[Then] every thing He saw was filled

With perfect joy and life and light."

Wendell Berry

Photo Subalpine Fir and evening alpenglow on Mount Adams; Mt. Rainier National Park, WA; July 29, 2013

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Our work is meant to illuminate the fog that surrounds us.

"Derive happiness in yourself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us."

Henri Matisse

Photo: Avalanche Lilies on a foggy day; Mount Rainier National Park, WA; July 28, 2013

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At the time of meditation, our own state of mind appears like the color of sapphire or sky.

"When the mind, having stripped off the old self, has been re-clothed with the self that comes from grace, then it will see its own state at the moment of meditation like the color of sapphire or of the sky, what Scripture calls the dwelling of God which was seen by the Ancients on Mount Sinai."

Evagrius Ponticus,
A Desert Father, 4th century Egypt

Photo: Subalpine Firs and bluish layers of mountain ridges; Mount Baker Wilderness, WA; July 23, 2013

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"Toiling in the treadmills of life, we hide from the lessons of Nature. We gaze morbidly through civilized fog upon our beautiful world clad with seamless beauty. Civilized man chokes his soul."

John Muir

Photo: Avalanche Lily and Mount Rainier appearing through a window in the fog; Mt. Rainier National Park, WA; July 28, 2013

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Trees are my spiritual guides.

For me, trees - more than animals - are my usual spiritual guides. The silence, dignity, self-emptying and radiance of trees never fail to mirror my own rootedness in Divine Reality.

Photo: Western Red Cedar and Western Hemlock in the Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, WA; July 25, 2013

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When we recognize the virtues, talent and beauty of Mother Earth, a sense of connection and love is born in us.

"We have constructed a system we can't control.  It imposes itself on us, and we become its slaves and victims.  We have created a society in which the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, and in which we are so caught up in our own immediate problems that we cannot afford to be aware of what is going on with the rest of the human family or our planet Earth . . . [But] when we recognize the virtues, the talent, the beauty of Mother Earth, something is born in us, some kind of connection - love is born.  We want to be connected.  That is the meaning of love, to be at one.  You would do anything for the benefit of the Earth, and the Earth will do anything for your well-being."

Thich Nhat Hanh,

Vietnamese Zen teacher

Photo: Avalanche Lilies, Spray Park, Mount Rainier National Park, WA; July 28, 2013

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Mutual Partnership

Although not plants and therefore incapable of photosynthesis themselves, many sea anemones form an important symbiotic relationship with certain single-celled green algae species that reside in the animals' gastrodermal cells. The sea anemone benefits from the products of the algae's photosynthesis: oxygen and food in the form of glycerol, glucose and alanine. The algae in turn are assured a reliable exposure to sunlight and protection from herbivores. The algae also benefit by being protected due to the presence of stinging cells called nematocysts - which reside in the anemone's tentacles - thereby reducing the likelihood of being eaten.

Photo: Green Anemones, Olympic National Park, WA; July 27, 2013

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Surprise is the Goal of the Universe!

I'm convinced that the major reason why we are here on this earth is to experience awe and wonder at the amazing beauty and goodness of the world, and at the way in which meaning can be created out of even the most difficult aspects of life. More profoundly, I believe that humanity is meant to be the vehicle through which this awe and wonder is passed on to the very Source of the Universe - to God, the Goddess, the Divine. Accordingly, it is through us that the Divine is able to experience SURPRISE at the beauty and wonder of life.

Classical theology typically ascribed the quality of omniscience - all-knowing - to God, and eliminated any sense that surprise might occur within the Divine Mind. I disagree in part with this view. As I see it, God is able to experience surprise to a GREATER DEGREE than any other being. This means that God is capable of experiencing a sense of surprise, awe and wonder at even the MOST MUNDANE occurrences of life! This ability, far from being an imperfection as the traditional theologians would maintain, is actually an exquisite PERFECTION! And this sense of surprise, it turns out, is mediated through US!

Like classical theologians, I agree that omniscience is a divine quality. However, I view it as only ONE SIDE of the Divine Mind. Here, Sacred Omniscience is like a hyper-computer, able to take the wreckage that occurs over the course of the evolutionary process - including especially the damages the human species has done - and reconfigure the cosmos in such a way that a new best result is possible. However, the OTHER SIDE of the Divine Mind is capable of endless surprise, awe and wonder. It is these qualities that WE are meant to contribute to the Divine - to God.

In Process Theology, this dipolar nature of God is acknowledged and celebrated. The omniscient aspect is called the "primordial nature" of God. And the side that experiences surprise, awe and wonder - through us - is called the "consequent nature" of God. Because the latter aspect - capable of knowing endless surprise at the seemingly most mundane aspects of life - has been under-emphasized or denied throughout history, it is THIS aspect that I am committed to reclaiming most passionately.

The very Source of the Universe LOVES to be surprised at the smallest detail of life! How amazing!

Photo: Sunburst appearing in the fog through the branches of a Sitka Spruce along the trail to Ruby Beach; Olympic National Park, WA; July 27, 2013

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Are our current ecological crises the result of the left hemisphere of the brain overwhelming the right side?

Yesterday, I read an interesting article by John Stanley and David Loy, who interpret our current worldwide ecological crises as the result of the triumph of the left side of the brain over the right. They remind us that "The inclusive and empathic right hemisphere is attuned to intuition, empathy, relationship and creativity. The left hemisphere gives us linguistic consciousness (re-presentation of life in words), mathematics and control of the dominant hand from which arose the making of complex tools."

The authors then make an interesting observation. "An inner power struggle between these hemispheres can be inferred in Western history," they point out. "This led to a comprehensive triumph for left-hemisphere verbal thinking, computation and technology. It produced the so-called Enlightenment, Newtonian physics and the coal-driven Industrial Revolution. We now live in the world the left hemisphere has built, replacing the ancient Soul of the World (Anima Mundi) [perceived intuitively by the right hemisphere] with it own mechanistic model. Its preoccupation with competition and control has been institutionalized. It has become our way of life. The right hemisphere's concern for empathic relationship and a broader vision has been marginalized. We could understand the twentieth century as the left hemisphere's project to build a planetary empire. It did so through an industrial growth-economy powered by oil, advertising and consumerism. This one-sided ambition for power and profit has proved so intoxicating that we now find ourselves 'at the edge of the roof.' "

The authors go on to quote Albert Einstein, who once said: "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a world that honors the servant, but has forgotten the gift." By "rational mind," I assume he means the ability to analyze a situation and break it up into pieces. This contrasts with the intuitive mind, which is more wholistic, and which understands the relational interconnections of all things.

Stanley and Loy then point out that "The difference between the two brain hemispheres invites comparison with a distinction in Asian spiritual traditions between small self and big Self. For example, Mahayana Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta both distinguish our usual limiting ego-self from an unlimited 'original self.' Ego-self is characterized by what Einstein called the 'optical illusion of separateness.' But we do not have to be stuck with it. In fact the key point of the evolutionary crisis of the human spirit is that we can no longer afford to be limited by it. Fortunately, the ego-self can be re-trained, to develop a more inclusive identity. I am more than me. I am connected to you. I am a member of we." And this "we" includes the Divine Presence and the entire planet, with all of its peoples, cultures, creatures and ecosystems.

I find that the perception of natural beauty never fails to put me in touch with the intuitive mind, the one that is able to perceive the world through wholistic images, metaphors and myths. The joy I feel in the presence of natural beauty serves as a sort of heat that melts my ego-self, allowing me to be a part of the landscape that I perceive and enjoy. It is crucial that each of us find such places, either within the city or outside of it.

Photo: Pink Heather, Spray Park, Mount Rainier National Park, WA; July 28, 2013

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A Sense of Wonder

"If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength."

Rachel Carson   

Photo: See Stack and breaking waves, Rialto Beach, Olympic National Park, WA; July 26, 2013

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Landscape beauty plays an important part in human progress.

"The better part of the world is beginning to know that beauty plays an important part in human progress, and that - regarded even from the lowest financial standpoint - it is one of the most precious and productive assets any country can possess . . . Witness the magnificent wild parks of the West, set apart and guarded for the highest good of all, and the thousands of city parks to satisfy the natural taste and hunger for landscape beauty that God in some measure has put into every human being."

The Contemplative John Muir

Photo: Avalanche Lilies; Spray Park, Mount Rainier National Park, WA; July 28, 2013

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Why not be totally changed into FIRE?

Abba Lot came to Abba Joseph and said: "Father, according as I am able, I keep my little rule, and my little fast, my prayer, meditation and contemplative silence; and according as I am able I strive to cleanse my heart of thoughts: now what more should I do?"  The elder rose up in reply and stretched out his hands to heaven, and his fingers became like lamps of fire.  He said: "Why not be totally changed into FIRE?"

Sayings of the Desert Fathers,
5th century Egypt

Photo: Oregon Holly-grape backlit, with the Front Range in the background; Bierstadt Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 9, 2013.  That's Bear Lake at the bottom.

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We are suffering in our cities from a need of simple things.

"We are suffering in our cities from a need of simple things."

Carl Jung

Photo: Long's Peak and Bierstadt Lake; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 9, 2013

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The Geography of Hope

"Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed.  The reminder and the reassurance that it is still there is good for our spiritual health even if we never once in ten years set foot in it.  It is important to us simply because it is there - important, that is, simply as idea.  It can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of hope."

Wallace Stegner

Photo: Rose Hips and a rocky outcrop; Granite Ridge Trail, Red Feather Lakes, CO; November 8, 2013

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It's time for the lake ice to bloom again!

It's time again for the mountain lakes to ice over.  To me, the beautiful and ever-changing patterns formed in lake ice - and in snowflakes, the ice of the sky - are Winter's "bloom," corresponding to the flowering plants of  summer.

Photo: Ice on Bierstadt Lake at sunset; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 9, 2013

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