A Beginning

Saturday morning
Cold day outside
The air smells like snow
Greeting friends online
The cat stops by
Hey! I'm here!
And I give him some attention
Family is all off
Doing their Saturday things
I'm sipping hot coffee
Munching on breakfast
And yet
There's so much more
Tomorrow
I'll walk alone through the woods
Enjoying the snowy silence
Of my holy places
Never alone
Always
Connected
All over this world
People
Some of them are OK
And some of them
They're not OK, you know
So many are cold
Hungry
Unloved
Hurt
And our Mother
We use what we need
Scarring our world
Creating a selfish today
And borrowing from tomorrow
That which we do not have
And should not want
While Mother cries
And we are fat and comfortable
Ignoring our brothers and sisters
At the cost our our own humanity
Loss of the soul
The spirit dries up
Blackened and dead
Only the shiny things
Will bring comfort
Bring me more!
Grasping for the empty things
When such treasure is all around us
There is such joy
Wisdom
If we watch
The other creatures
We share our home with
Truly we are connected with them
They have much to teach us
But we exploit them, too
Like everything else
And it seems too big
It's so much
How can we ever change it
I know some
Who tell me
Every day
In conversation
And on line
That there's nothing you can do
And to you
I say
NO
NO
NO
No. I will not believe
That I am empty
That WE are empty
Beyond hope
So lost in our pretty toys
And our comforts
That we cannot change this
We CAN change it
Do you understand
Can you see
Please, please
Take a moment
To become quiet
And KNOW
YOU
You are a part of All That Is
People
All people
Why do we judge each other?
And fear each other?
All of the living creatures
Plants
The wild places
Spend some time
With a child
In any wild place
And see it through their eyes
And be renewed
And so
Tomorrow
While I am in the woods
In the silent, snowy cathedral
Only my own footsteps making a sound
I will know this
All of this
And more
And it will seem like it can't be changed
But it is in those moments
That I know
If I change ME
It is a beginning