Claiming Kinship

 

Members of the Family

“Living in modern times has turned us into watchers, placing a sliver of distance between us and everything we meet.”

Mark Nepo (The Book of Awakening, p.137; Conari Press, 2000)

          In this reading from Nepo’s Book of Awakening, he speaks of the way that we view ourselves as separate and different from everything and everyone else, and in doing so create a degree of distance that leaves us lonely, or as he says, “disheartens our days.” In Native American cultures, they view everything in their environment as brothers and sisters, as did St. Francis of Assisi. The thunder-beings roil the skies during storms, the stone-people vibrate at a very slow speed, the animals, trees and grasses have stories to tell, wisdom to share. In Nepo’s words: “There is no such thing as metaphor. The wind is not like God’s voice. The wind is God’s voice. Memories are not images of loved ones returning to us. They are the spirits of loved ones visiting us.” You can see how this view of the world brings it alive and enlivens us.

          If you enter this mindset, and view everything in creation as living, breathing kindred spirits, you will begin to feel your own vibration sync with the vibration of the earth, of the trees and even the stones. You can ask them questions and receive answers, and it will change the way you feel about your place in the cosmos. You are a member of the family. You are kin to all that is, and they to you. You share the DNA and the mineral composition. Your atoms and theirs exchange electrons. As always, Mary Oliver said it best in her poem, “Wild Geese:”

“…Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

The world offers itself to your imagination,

Calls to you like wild geese, harsh and exciting—

Over and over announcing your place

In the family of things.”

In the Spirit,

Jane