Doritos bags, Pepsi bottles, and fall leaves added color to the brown forest floor and the dreary rain-filled atmosphere. I was performing fieldwork recently in the pouring rain, which then turned to snow. We were working in a developed area within a city that is not known for its economic prosperity. The site was heavily impacted by human activity and degraded significantly.
Although we were out there to do work to hopefully improve the site, human actions have caused the problems from decade of abuse, misuse, and neglect. The site is littered with trash – broken glass, rusted metal, random plastic electronics; the creek has eroded down to a depth where the banks extend about 9 ft. above the trickle of water; and invasive plant species cover almost the entire area. Recently some agency cut down most trees towards one end of the site. The cut trees are now lying along side the trees that fell as the stream bank caved into the channel and took the adjacent trees down with it. The stream has likely eroded much of the channel because of development, increased impervious surface in the area, and poor storm water management. The creek itself is small – water did not flow over the toe of my boots and could be stepped across if not for the chasm that it now flows through.
While drenched from the rain and freezing from the sudden temperature drop, I was walking the length of the stream as part of its assessment and came across this beautiful gift. A cut stump was dotted with red and yellow leaves and peppered with snow. The contrast of fall leaves and snow led me to pull my phone out from a pocket beneath my rain jacket. Within the picture, I also noticed that the stump formed a heart shape.
I was struck by such beauty within what I considered a very degraded, ugly site. The tree had been cut down, but its base now served as a palate for the materials falling onto it. Colorful autumn leaves contrasted the bleak brown colors of the stump.
The book The Giving Tree came to mind. Within the story a boy enjoys the many gifts of a tree – shade, apples, company, and then grows up and continues to take what the tree has to offer to the point of cutting it down and using its wood. I find the book distressing. But what has happened is that the tree willingly gave everything it had to the boy/man without any expectation of return. Similarly, this tree at the site lived in rough conditions from human action and then it was cut down. But it still had more to offer and willingly gave more.
This type of giving is what spiritual teachers engender. This outpouring, self-giving love without any thought as to what they may get in return, any accounting. Their internal cup is so full that it spills over and outwards to others. And their cup is filled by realizing and allowing the Divine love to flow into the cup.
I think it can be a common misconception that people give in order to be happy, which is definitely a thing, but many others give because their happiness is overflowing and they yearn to pass their abundance on to others. We often live with a cup that is not even full much less overflowing. This leads to feelings of inadequacy and scarcity. It takes work to get there and work to keep it full (which I assume some people can do?).
When I spend moments in a such a place where my internal cup is approaching fullness, I feel such a sense of contentedness, connection to others, joy, fullness, hope, and freedom. I need nothing and want to desperately to give to others. This is usually after I read and immerse myself in reading spiritual books, scriptures, and meditation or centering prayer. I’m sure there are many ways to get there, but that’s what helps me.
Jesus did not sacrifice himself as much as gave of himself to such an extent that he was willing to die to show us the way. He said eat his body and drink his blood. That is giving in a very visceral, physical, ultimate way. To do this is to release control. To loosen the grip on our obsessions and small selves. It is complete trust, self-giving, and loving. This type of love has been referred to as kenosis, self-emptying, which does not involve attachment or expectation, but rather purely giving from within.
Nature is Sacred 