Real Life

True Nature

“A fish cannot drown in water.

A bird does not fall in air.

Each creature God made

must live in its own true nature.”

Mechthild of Magdeburg

Waking up at the lake is like emerging from sleep into a dream. The water is slate gray and calm. The birds, having finished with their frantic, noisy nesting, are flying to and fro from the feeders. I slept with windows open to hear the tree frogs and night birds, and the sound of dew dripping off the roof.

Liza has grown familiar with this place, too. She knows where we're headed and is the first one to the car. She sleeps through the trip instead of whining. As soon as the big dogs arrive, she bares her teeth and circles their legs to make sure they know who is in charge. They duck their heads and high-step away, avoiding the pint-sized terrorist.

Fish are feeding, leaping high out of the water to catch insects flying near. A pair of mallards glides low over the water, a late fledgling following behind. Across the lake, dogs bark to one another to mark their respective territories. Fishermen troll across the early morning water, searching out good spots for dropping anchor. Fish are not trying to be birds, ducks are not barking. Every creature is going about its business, being true to its nature.

When in this environment, where land and water meet, where time is slow and life is not demanding, I am more aware of my own true nature. I move in the rhythms of daylight and moonlight, of hunger and fullness. It doesn't take long to settle into a natural pattern. It is here that I realize what a toll living in a city takes on human beings. All the noise and the movement, the constant allure of engagement, of work, and interaction, the hundreds of demands and enticements, requirements of social necessity. All these separate us from awareness of what is truest about us—that we too are creatures of the great mother, native species of the earth, and animals like all the rest. When we are truest to our nature, we are peaceful beings, too.

                                                               In the Spirit,

                                                                   Jane