It is Earth Day. I awoke mindful of needing to be present to this day and all that it requires. Present to the damage our species has done and to the danger that we may well not have the good sense to change. Present also to our belated but growing understanding of the danger and the possibilities that the forced slowdown of the pandemic have made possible. Re-opening offers us a chance to make new choices. 

I awoke on this Earth Day mindful that I and we are at a juncture, a time of choice. And the choice, as it always seems to be, is between cursing and blessing the world, between cursing and blessing ourselves. 

As I often do, I visited my friend the Sweet Gum tree just outside our kitchen. I approached the branches thinking to record the progress of leafing with yet another picture. The Sweet Gum is always late to leaf here in the Northwest where both winters and springs are mild. 

The leaves began to unfurl a few days ago and most are still small. The moss on the branches is still clearly visible and the growth of vibrant new life is still a work in process. 

This is a troubled and troubling time for me. A troubled and a troubling time for many of us. There are personal challenges and changes, and the challenges of the world continue to press in on us.  

I thought I went to check on the progress of the tree, to pay attention and notice the Spirit of Life working its magic in the budding leaves. I thought I went to bless the tree with a few moments of my attention on another busy day. 

What a surprise to realize that the Sweet Gum was blessing me. My gaze was drawn up and into the web of branches and buds, to the play of light and dark in the early sun. I seemed to feel the buds responding to the light, using the nutrients being drawn up from the roots below. It was a blessing in process and I seemed to enter it and be restored. 

I speak often of “holding” persons who have suffered a loss or are facing a challenge. There is an intentionality in holding those concerns, a calling us to pay attention, a decision, a question of will. 

The process of being blessed and of blessing is also a decision. But the decision to bless or to receive blessing is not a matter of will. It is a matter of the heart and of the spirit. 

On this Earth Day, I found blessing in the branches and the buds of my favorite tree. May you be blessed as well this day. It is true that we have much work to do. But may we begin with blessing in our hearts so that all of our “doing” may be in the service of love. 

Blessed be. 

Amen