… you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine

Mary Oliver
from
When I am among the trees
.

I have a deep-seated need for times of stillness and silence – always have – but the need increases amid the cacophony of contemporary life. And death.

A lover of poetry, I nonetheless recognise that there are times when compassionate, listening silence has an equally important role in my own life, and in the life of society, and of nations.

I know of several friends who have distinct and affectionate relationships with particular trees. An Acer in my Lakeland garden has long been one of my friends in Nature, and today I have watched and watched some more, stunned at times by sunlight’s appearing as flames of fire amid her limbs. Soul warming. Peace-filled.

May we, that’s to say ALL humankind, learn to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.

.