Temple of the Green

Happy Springtime! I saw my first robin of the year today. I saw a man feeding a pigeon out of his hand today. I saw the sacred Hebrew letter "shin" in the clouds today. Tell me what you saw today. Show me how you see the world. If you are at home surfing the web, right now (and if you are reading this, you probably are) here's a word of advice-- go outside and play. All winter long we are waiting for these days. I always think it's funny how we wait and wait for the greenness to return. We watch the progress of the tiny buds each day. And then one morning we wake up and all the plants and trees are in full foliage, acting as if they were never bare at all. I don't want to embarrass them so I pretend I didn't really notice their nakedness all winter long.
I am blessed to live on the bluffs of the Mississippi. I live just a short walk from the River, which I think of as the Kundalini of North America. My friend calls her Ms. To me it is a sacred area, even here in the city. Everyday when I cross the bridge to go to my daytime life, I kiss my hand twice to the magical Lady River, with her secret groves and pathways. Now that it is spring again, the minute I get home I go down to my special meditation spot, where three small waterfalls feed the backwaters of the River. The stone bluff they flow down is already brilliant green with life. This is my sacred temple, guarded by the staghorn sumach, and hidden from profane eyes by the wild grape vines.(These are representatives of the Lord and Lady as they appear in the plant kingdom). Most of the plants are still in the baby stage of early spring, and I go each day to feed them with love and ancient ceremony. Ceremony feeds the Earth. I am a guerilla priestess of the Green.
Tonight the Moon is full, and its reflection on the ancient, endlessly reborn River always puts me in mind of other times and other lives--the Native people who lived here in the Before Times, who were on intimate terms with all the Plants and the Guardian Spirit of the Green. I can see them canoeing on the moonlit waters. ("Ancient waters, I hear you calling, Ancient Waters, I hear your song"). Do the Ancient People hear my voice travelling back to them on the river of time, as I hear theirs? I invoke them now and ask for a Teaching.
I have to go now. The Plants are calling. "We are of one flesh, you and I," (from the Jungle Book).