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| Now this is prickly! Santa Fe Cholla ( Opuntia viridiflora) in which the Curved billed Thashers build their nests. |
It seems that individuals everywhere in this country are prickly from sheltering in place, from the uncertainty of the future, from the lack of hugs and missing life as it once was. The pandemic has altered our familiar, comfortable way of life. People are unwilling to BE in the present. Some refuse to wear masks and social distance. Even some people are spitting on employees at the stores that have are opened.
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| Another truly prickly plant! Prickly Pear (Opuntia phaeacantha) |
Humans, at least in our country of the United States, are in general unable to BE still. Perhaps this Ute prayer could offer a path to stillness (and a way to BE in the world as it is now):
"Earth teach me stillness
as the grasses are stilled with light.
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Indian Ricegrass (Achnatherum hymenoides
that the native peoples gathered and ground.
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Earth teach me suffering
as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility
as blossoms are humble with beginning.
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Pink Wild Snapdragon (Penstemon palmeri)
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Earth teach me caring
as the mother who secures her young.
Earth teach me courage
as the tree which stands all alone.
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Pinon Pine (Pinus edulis)
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Earth teach me limitation
as the ant which crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom
as the eagle which soars in the sky.
Earth teach me resignation
as the leaves which die in the fall.
Earth teach me regeneration
as the seed which rises in the Spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself
as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness
as dry fields weep with rain."
Ute Prayer
Through stillness I believe we humans can alter our course forward and change how we behave as humans living upon Mother Earth. I am hopeful we can "forget" our individualistic selves, see the bigger picture and
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