I didn't realize this is what I've been doing lately, but I appreciate the validation. Reading this will help me deepen the practice. (And Ghost Ranch is a place I love, too. I did a pilgrimage to the Monastery in the Desert and spent a few days at Ghost Ranch resting and absorbing that Christ-soaked place.)
Thanks for the feedback, and I also visited that monastery. What an amazing spot!
It is interesting when we find ourselves in engaging in practices that resonate, but do not have the language to describe, or at times deepen, into them. Likewise, language can also be a hindrance to experiential encounters as well, though I am happy to hear you have explored this!
Glad it served as a reminder, Walt. The practice has moved on a little since April, into 4 plain words: Receive, Ponder, Respond, Belong, and the fuller version is in How to Read the Land the Way You Read a Sacred Text.
I wrote this in April, and the practice has kept moving since. The structure from Guigo II still holds, and so does the lineage Julie Bond traces.
In April I wrote about the living world as a text, with stones and leaves as its words, and I now think of it as someone to meet. The 4 movements now go by 4 plain words: Receive, Ponder, Respond, Belong. Receive one being, ponder what they offer, respond with care, and stay long enough to belong. I also frame them with an arriving at the start and a returning at the end.
Lectio Divina is one of my 'go-to' contemplative practices, and also in nature, without realising that is what I do. I have a spot I've been visiting for years in Cornwall, where I sit under three specific trees, a place where I'm at peace and always give thanks for their silent wisdom and presence.
This sounds so peaceful, nourishing, and engaging. What a wonderful practice you developed. While much of what is known as traditional lectio divina involves reading sacred texts, the Earth predates them all and is thus a foundational place for this spiritual work and connection.
I didn't realize this is what I've been doing lately, but I appreciate the validation. Reading this will help me deepen the practice. (And Ghost Ranch is a place I love, too. I did a pilgrimage to the Monastery in the Desert and spent a few days at Ghost Ranch resting and absorbing that Christ-soaked place.)
Thanks for the feedback, and I also visited that monastery. What an amazing spot!
It is interesting when we find ourselves in engaging in practices that resonate, but do not have the language to describe, or at times deepen, into them. Likewise, language can also be a hindrance to experiential encounters as well, though I am happy to hear you have explored this!
Thank you for this reminder, and for sharing this beautiful practice.
Glad it served as a reminder, Walt. The practice has moved on a little since April, into 4 plain words: Receive, Ponder, Respond, Belong, and the fuller version is in How to Read the Land the Way You Read a Sacred Text.
Very inspiring I will be doing this starting this week. Thank you.
Thank you, and welcome to it. I would be glad to hear what meets you in the first week.
I wrote this in April, and the practice has kept moving since. The structure from Guigo II still holds, and so does the lineage Julie Bond traces.
In April I wrote about the living world as a text, with stones and leaves as its words, and I now think of it as someone to meet. The 4 movements now go by 4 plain words: Receive, Ponder, Respond, Belong. Receive one being, ponder what they offer, respond with care, and stay long enough to belong. I also frame them with an arriving at the start and a returning at the end.
The fuller version is in "How to Read the Land the Way You Read a Sacred Text" - https://www.whereinsightmeetsearth.com/p/how-to-read-the-land-the-way-you
One encounter that runs all the way through is in "The Tree Had Grown Around the Barbed Wire" - https://www.whereinsightmeetsearth.com/p/the-tree-had-grown-around-the-barbed
Lectio Divina is one of my 'go-to' contemplative practices, and also in nature, without realising that is what I do. I have a spot I've been visiting for years in Cornwall, where I sit under three specific trees, a place where I'm at peace and always give thanks for their silent wisdom and presence.
This sounds so peaceful, nourishing, and engaging. What a wonderful practice you developed. While much of what is known as traditional lectio divina involves reading sacred texts, the Earth predates them all and is thus a foundational place for this spiritual work and connection.
Yes, I agree, creation/nature was the first 'Bible' as such.
Amazing how it is so easy to miss, literally, like the background ;-)