Monday Meditation: Among the Trees

This is the first of a series of posts for the Eco-Spirituality class I’m taking. The photos that I’ve taken and the readings are meant to help us reconnect with the rhythms of nature in our busy daily lives. I’m taking inspiration from two practices: the Daily Office and Lectio Divina to create a daily meditative practice with poetry. I will be tweeting an image three times a day with excerpts from the daily poem as a reminder to pause and reflect. The link will take you back to this page where you can re-read the poem if you like. To subscribe to the tweets, follow me at @DailySeasons. If you turn on mobile notifications, the tweets will serve like the mindfulness bell as a reminder to stop and be mindful of the present moment.

When I Am Among the Trees
by Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness,
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”