Dear Friends,
We pray you are safe and well.
In the spirit of our philosophy of co-creating community and our awareness that the Spirit speaks through each of us, we invite you to share your meditations with us as well. We truly believe that in God’s economy of abundance, when we share our blessings, our thoughts, our feelings, we are all made richer.
Today's Meditation is "A Tree Exchange" by Gunilla Norris. Today’s tree meditation by Gunilla Norris was shared by Carmela and Tom Coughlan from rifugio at 20 Colonial in Westford.
Rifugio at 20 Colonial offered spirituality gatherings and a quiet space for prayer before the pandemic prevented safe meetings. Carmela is an interfaith chaplain and spiritual director in the contemplative Desert Mothers and Fathers’ tradition. In this pandemic time, she is available for spiritual direction by phone or virtually for anyone seeking one-to-one spiritual companionship. Carmela provides deep listening and recognition of one’s inner wisdom as one reflects on the Sacred in one’s life. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 508.517.0072.
We invite you to join us as we commit ourselves to working tirelessly to end systemic and structural racism in our society, in healthcare, in the workplace, in the Church--wherever it shows up so that everyone may come to have more abundant life. May this meditation nourish our contemplative-active hearts and sustain all of us in action.
We hope and pray that you and your loved ones experience genuine peace of mind and heart, and remain in good health during this challenging time.
In this "Season of Ordinary Time" in the Church Year, may this be a time of peace, of healing and hope, of the infusion of joy in your life!
With our love and care,
Ron & Jean
Meditation Ninety-four: A Tree Exchange (Gunilla Norris)
See how the ants in the peonies
are loving every blossom.
They burrow in to praise,
and are not worried in delight.
Be glad in the moment of blooming.
Without bidding
the morrow will come.
A Tree Exchange
Unlike the stock exchange that closes every weekday afternoon, the tree exchange is open 24/7. Trees and humans are in continuous reciprocity. Trees use our exhalations, and their oxygen is essential for our inhalations. We live in a kind of symbiosis with trees.
Since we cut them down so easily and do not realize the consequences,
to venerate trees may become more and more important. Common sense would tell us that any practice that helps us venerate and preserve the life of trees, and so our own and our children's lives, is of great value.
A beautiful way to practice is to make friends with a particular tree, maybe one we pass ... daily. We can begin by standing with our backs against the tree, bark to bark so to speak. We then imagine that roots are going down from the bottom of our feet into the ground and that our essence is rising up and branching out high above us. We might think for a moment that we are planted right there. Slowly we let the tree draw any negativity from us, as if its sap could pull toxins and disturbances out of our bodies and minds up and away from us.
In doing this often enough we will be able to physically sense a benevolent difference in our bodies and attitudes. When we are ready we simply hug the tree and pull away to stand face to face with it at the drip line. There, just at the edge of its canopy, we can spread our arms wide and let the tree rain fresh, verdant blessings on us.
Here the appreciation of our investment in consciousness is accrued interest not to be ignored. As trees bless us,
we, in turn, bless them with our gratitude and realization that we are friends beyond words. We breathe for each other.