web of life

“Weeds”

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Do you walk by communities of plants, label them weeds and walk on without a thought or second glance?

My dear ones, are you alienated from nature, not paying attention to the miracles surrounding you? Are you forgetting that all beings are vital to the web of life?

These amazing rooted beings you call “weeds” are vital to the richness of your land, the health of your air and water, and to the survival of life on Earth.

I do not speak of the invasive plants, brought in from different climates, taken from their true habitats and allowed to run wild and overpower native species, take over fragile habitats.

The energy of these invading beings is impassive and without empathy. Uprooted from their native soil, they can only think of “me, me, me”. They are the narcissists and sociopaths of the plant world.

Each of the native “weeds” in your land have their place, their purpose in the web, their beauty, their seasons of growth, flowering, going to seed, their own way of death and decay.

Each has their own way of rooting, some deep, some shallow, their way of reproduction, some spread seeds each year, some every other year, some send out rhizomes or stolons. Each has their own way of bringing up nutrients, soaking in sunlight, their own way of setting seeds.

The plants you call weeds are meant to live in harmony and balance with all others in their native lands.

If trees could walk and talk

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If trees could walk the Earth, we would gather in circles to shelter and protect those who suffer. With our roots and branches entwined below and above, lending our living energy which we channel from Earth and sunlight.

Spring tree

If trees could walk, we’d encircle the angry, the disenfranchised, the hurting, the lonely, the traumatized, and breathe our peaceful and harmonious energy into them so they may be empowered and calmed and find new hope.

If trees could speak, we would spin out ancient tales from the void, the time before time began, telling of the web of life that pre-exists our planet, in which all beings now find their home.

Old gnarled tree trunk

If trees could speak, our voices would carry above the rooftops and mountains, down valleys. Our voices would move on the winds, float down streams and rivers, whisper across the land through deserts prairies oceans to all living beings –

“We belong to each other. We must care for each other!”

Potential in the web of life

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From my vantage point there is amazing potential here on our sweet green planet.

There is vast potential for all beings to thrive, for all to live in harmony, for a renewal of the web of life, once again finding our home the Earth and her groves, her rivers, valleys, mountains, plains, and deserts, her frozen regions, all her various creatures to be sacred and treated accordingly.

Monarch butterfly and wildflowers

There is great potential for all beings to live in balance. When there is balance and harmony in the web of life, all beings are interconnected on the level of spirit. When this is so, all thrive together.

When I speak of “all” beings, I mean your family, not just distant or abstract concepts or foreign species. All beings include those you know and love, those you cherish, those you hold in your heart, those for whom you desire a good life and happiness and prosperity.

All beings include you and your beloved pets, your grandchildren, you and the gardens you plant, the trees that shelter you, the plants and animals you eat for food, the insects that pollinate your food and make honey, the coffee trees, the banana plantations… the people that do the work of harvesting and processing the food…

Newborn baby

Your beloved ones and those you depend on cannot be separated from all other living beings in the web of life.

The web of life is one fabric! We thrive together or decline together.

Which Earth will you choose?

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The health and life of our planet depends on the collective choices of human beings. You have the agency, the free will, two hands arms and legs, the capabilities and brain power to make or break, create or destroy, build or demolish, weave or tear.

All life on Earth now depends on you and your species to take responsibility for the health and life of our planet! Each and every person, every living being, from the humblest human being to the richest person on Earth, from lowly ants nesting in the soil to the mighty elephants of Africa and Asia from tunneling worms to magnificent soaring birds all depend on the interconnected web of life.

Grandmother Cottonwood

Humans now in this age with the stroke of a pen, the detonation of a bomb, the clear cutting of a mountainside, the gratuitous use of violence, the misuse of words and images have the power to damage or even destroy our web.

By God we need better from you! I speak for our Earth for the web of life, for all living beings.

You have been endowed with the stewardship of our planet and given the care of billions of your kind. All deserve to live in peace and plenty without fear.

Will you see those different than you as expendable as “other” as unworthy of your care or will you recognize your shared humanity? Will you see yourself in the mirror of their eyes?

Put down your weapons, your divisive actions words and thoughts and look inside yourselves. Find wholeness within your hearts. If you can’t find it, ask for help to know yourself!

Search your souls. Access your higher selves. Your spirits and hearts are larger and more expansive than you know. When you discover this you become one with the great wave of human consciousness shifting toward the light.

Cottonwoods at sunset

Dear humans, we spirits of nature have had enough of your drama and trauma! Our patience is growing thin.

Please step up and learn to live together in harmony. Use your power to restore the web of life.

Separation or oneness?

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Dear ones, I feel the vibrations of pain and suffering emanating from millions of humans right now. I feel the flaming red vibrations of anger and rage boiling over into the energetic shock waves of violence rippling through our land.

In the web of life, in spiritual law, violence done to one is violence done to all, including the self.

I sense the sound waves from so many voices lifted up together imploring for justice and deep change. The frequencies of fear and despair in the atmosphere vibrate in my roots and branches.

Prairie grasses, heavy clouds

Those who believe in separation cannot know that all living beings are connected in the vast web of creation. They are blind to this fact.

They can cause great damage to the web of life, giving even more power and energy to the illusion of separateness – the dualities of black- white, good- bad, us-them. This old order thinking will keep humankind stuck in the battles, curses, and grudges of the past without end.

Dear ones, with your help this dualistic thinking and low level operating can give way to a more expansive and evolved world view in which humans feel and live from the level of spirit, a higher wiser always just universal view, unencumbered by limited vision, ego fears, and skewed beliefs.

Spring tree

Those who put spirit at the center of their lives begin to know the oneness of all beings. They will find a way to live without judging or harming others and transcend the frightened ego to bring true justice to our land.

They will see others through the eyes of source, will see their true hearts, will know the humanity and kinship with all who walk this Earth.

In the web, acts of mercy, unconditional love, justice, and kindness are reflected to all beings including the self.

Balance in the Web of Life

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Can you widen your perspective for a moment? Imagine rising up above our Earth like a soaring bird and viewing the beauty of our land from above…

…the woodlands, streams and rivers, the grazing deer, flocks of birds flying below, fields of green, shady and pleasant neighborhoods, the gardens and parks, lakes and ponds, farms and ranches, the quiet cemeteries, the playing fields…

…Vast oceans and seas, waves breaking on beaches and rocks, mountain peaks and deserts… clouds of butterflies migrating…

Flying bird, summer landscape

From this birds eye perspective you may begin to discern the magnificence and complexity of the web of life on this planet. Can you feel the peace and calm that seem to be generated in some areas?

Do you feel a kinship, a deep connection with all that you see?

But dear ones, as you soar above the Earth you may also see the devastation created by human alterations of our ecosystems, over-development and pollution. You may see some dying and diseased landscapes.

You may sense the anger and suffering inequitable policies have engendered. You might feel the widespread fear of disease for those with no safety net. You may feel the grief of those who have lost loved ones in the pandemic.

The web of life weakens when those with too much power believe the accumulation of massive wealth is the only thing that matters. When this grasping for wealth is valued over the equitable balance and distribution of resources, when health care is doled out for profit and those who cannot pay are left behind, the health and well being of all life on this planet suffer.

When kindness empathy and mutual benefit are seen as weak, when living together in harmony is scoffed at, when co-existing in peace doesn’t manufacture enough money to fill the bottomless pit of greed, the web of life weakens.

Do not allow the precious and complex beauty of our world to become damaged beyond repair under the weight of such stupidity greed and negligence.

Choose leaders who seek to assuage suffering, who do not turn their backs when others are hurting. Choose leaders who are rooted in reality, who make decisions based on the best advice available, who use their power for the good of all humans, all beings, the web of life.

When there is balance within the great web of life on Earth, all her beings can thrive.

Spring Evening

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Sun sinks toward the western horizon. Light pierces through the woods creating long shadows, dramatically spotlighting a single leaf, tree trunk, branch or blossom.

Robin sings the familiar evening songs all robins have sung since this land was new.

American robin

Tender new maple leaves fan out, yellow green against the pale blue late afternoon sky. Ferns unroll their sweet green toothy leaves and stretch out in the cool shade.

Violets shelter close to the ground, lifting their purple faces among the heart shaped leaves. Bumble bees work every possible blossom while the light holds.

The plants, trees, shrubs, perennials, and what are often called weeds grow in a riot, each claiming its place, rooting down and reaching up to the light, each finding a home.

Red squirrel

Squirrels chase and take giant leaps from tree to tree, passing time with a little craziness, a little play, a little high wire act with no net.

Turkey vultures

Vultures make their way home from all across the city, soaring, catching the last updrafts of the day. They can’t resist a few final figure eights, and possibly an aerial trick or two, formation flying with their next of kin before bedtime. They finally approach the roost trees and make a production of settling down with much flapping.

The waxing moon sails like a kite above the houses waiting for night.

Now only the tree tops catch the sunlight, burnishing them a golden green or bronze for a precious moment before all is bathed once again in shadow.

All creatures and rooted beings who make their living here take their essential place in the web of life.

Our Earth turns and the sun sinks below the horizon. Time to rest and settle. Time to watch the stars come out.

What is your legacy?

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Dear ones, Please do not underestimate your contributions, your necessity to the web of life. No matter what your calling is, what work you’ve chosen to do, your feelings, words and actions in this life leave an energetic legacy for all living beings.

Amazing spider web

Think of the gardens you’ve planted, the trees you’ve nurtured, the love you’ve expressed and shown, the meals you have lovingly prepared, the pets you have held to your heart, the smiles you have freely given, the songs you’ve sung; the empathy, kindness, connections, the heart to heart connections alignment with divine light, the joy you’ve felt, the seeds you’ve sown, the lives you’ve touched with thoughtfulness, wisdom, and attention, the unconditional love for others that flows from your heart – these are the lasting legacies that you have bequeathed to the web of life, your families, and your communities.

I ask – is your true legacy measured in stocks and bonds, dollars and cents? Money can be spent, lost or stolen in a heart beat, leaving your heirs with only their inner resources, courage, wisdom, integrity, honesty and the clothes on their backs.

Your true nature is to be mortal. Every living thing must pass through the final transformation. One day your hands will relax and release their hold on objects and the material wealth of which humans are so fond.

Your body will stay behind while your spirit lives on. You will leave this material world which is so precious, so dear, yet so impermanent, ever shifting and changing.

Late winter landscape, dusk

So while you are here, find joy in your embodied life with the senses and emotions and intelligence you’ve been given, love with your whole heart and express that love in ways others will feel and understand. Do the work that satisfies your soul. In this way you expand and strengthen the web of life.

You are an essential participant in the web of life whether you know it or not.

Let your life create strength and resilience and peace and love in the web, your lasting energetic legacy.

Reweave the Web of Life

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Tender green shoots reach toward the sun. This is life on our home, Planet Earth. The seasons turn, spring follows winter, the earth revolves, night follows day. All life depends on these ancient cycles and rhythms that we have learned to trust and depend on.

Cottonwoods at dusk

But now the web of life has been severely disrupted, threatening human life on our home planet and creating vast imbalances that magnify pre-existing imbalances and injustices. This disruption is throwing life on our blue and green planet out of tune, off true center, out of kilter, creating untold misery.

The intricate web of life has kept our planet healthy and in balance for millennia, providing conditions for life under the sun and stars. Now the damage to our web is showing up with widespread sickness and death, magnifying the imbalances that provide rude shelter and meager food for billions, a basic existence for many, abundant food, water, good health and riches for some; vast unimaginable wealth for a few.

To help reweave the web of life, begin to rethink your definition of wealth. Let your new thinking inspire new actions.

What is more precious than clear unpolluted fresh air or a deep breath that is easily exhaled? The feel of sun or rain on your skin, the beauty of thriving evergreen trees, blooming grasses and flowers, songbirds building their nests, the sight of a thin crescent moon through bare tree branches? Happy and healthy children? The tastes and textures of a simple meal to be savored? The smile of a loved one? A warm home in winter? What is true wealth?

Evergreens

Can you simplify and downsize your life and still feel wealthy?

Rethink your definition of what is necessary for you to enjoy daily life. Rethink your definition of true health. That includes health for all who people this Earth, and all life forms that grow and live their lives here on land, in sea and air.

The disruption in the web of life on Earth will help to focus your human attention on what is precious, what is true in your life, what changes you wish to make, what you can do that will help all living beings reweave our priceless web of life in which all things are one.

Rethink your true purpose here. Go beyond the surface. Dig deeper in your thinking. Tune in to your heart and spirit, and ask to know your role in the web of life and your role in reweaving the web.

We are all connected as one. We are meant to thrive together in our interconnections, to live in harmony and balance.

We all create and experience the best of life and health together, or we stand by and witness the diminishment of our lives, our families our potential, and our spirits.

We must act with compassion to reweave and restore true balance in our web of life.