Monday, September 4 (2023) 10am
Sage Bundles and Wildflowers for Lt. Col. Dan
________________________________
This morning, before I walked
alone with my dog I whispered a prayer to the rising sun.
"Let my soul awaken to you.
Heal my spirit, my mind, my body
And bring me the blessings of your earth.
I am grateful beyond the stars in my sky
To behold the wonder of this life
The grace of your plants
The humility of your wildlife
And the place you have made for me there.
Show me your handiwork and purpose for my path
And I will follow.”
Wild Sunflowers line the path to the rocky mountains at the top
of my road. Every morning their color
greets me and turns more golden with the coming season. They bow, tall over the path and buzzing with
the conversations of honey bees, bumble bees, ladybugs and grasshoppers. We all make eye contact with one another and
greet the day. Today there is not a
cloud in the sky yet and I can feel the coming heat off of the rising sun, but
the west side of my body is still cool.
The puppy and I hike up and up as up is in every direction when you live
in the mountains. There are remnants of
Spring’s wildflowers going to seed, drying in the sun. The sage is leafy and supple in the shade
where they have been able to capture a slight morning dew, perfect for the
fresh harvest. The white and purple daisy-aster
are strong in late summer, coming into their full beauty. I squat down and thank my earth mother as I
harvest long and short stems of the shady sage—an impromptu harvest—as I hold
as many as my fist can clench. Towards
the top of our climb I chose a few aster with gratitude and feel like an
uncommon young girl again walking through the forest with a bouquet of sage and
aster.
We return home as the sun is climbing and the heat is
beckoning. Laying our spoils out upon
the garden bench we sort short stalks from long stalks of sage--its scent new,
like flavored water, ionized by the morning air. Bundling the stalks we weave aster and sage
for a beautiful smudging bundle—earth mother’s perfect package. The sage and aster grow near one another and
are used to bedding together. The hummingbirds
circle around us in the cloud of sage dust, peeping and eavesdropping on our
project. They are always welcome at our table.
I felt the need to gather today after spending part of the
morning yesterday speaking with a Navaho man who sang children’s songs to us in
his native tongue while we drummed along on our djembes. A veteran, he struggles to accept his wartime
experience and come to peace with the killing.
His tear filled eyes spoke of the symbolism of the American Flag and the
pain young men suffered before their time pushing them to grow old in years
beyond their age. He shared how he could
not sleep and would wake up facing the wall while his wife held him, helplessly
unable to quell his pain. He once asked
his senior officer, “How do you sleep at
night sir?” And he answered, “I try to make
peace with those I have killed.” The
canyon of silence and reverence between us grew 10 fold. I was listening to the silence as was he in
search of the way to make peace. The
suffering of our veterans needs to be surrounded by any peace we can bring to
them. His senior officer suggested he
find a church to help begin to bring him peace.
That is how I found Lieutenant Colonel Dan. I have hope and faith that
he will continue to heal.
So I form these sacred sage bundles for Lt. Col. Dan.--bundles
for his healing, to honor his journey on this earth with the hope that he may
realize with his truth he can touch the lives of other soul seekers and bring
the true meaning of ‘finding peace’ to them as well.
Comments
Post a Comment