Hope

Trust the seeds

for they know that which they do –

their entire being designed to grow –

to make a way out of any soil.

We do not need to improve the seed,

nor should we smother it with care.

Instead, tend to the seed –

provide it with basic necessities,

love, and respect –

knowing that it is the will of the seed,

no matter the hardships of the season –

drought, famine, pestilence –

to sprout and bloom.

Do not impede the seed

through the folly

of our own understanding.

Trust the seeds

and rejoice in their flourishing.

I have confidence
in God’s miraculous love
amidst this time of terror –
through signs and symbols
from Mother Earth.

In the serotinous cones of the lodgepole pines –
resins dripping and releasing seeds
after consumed by rampant wildfires –
bringing a new generation of life
amidst death.

In the interdependent relationships of plants –
the trinity of beans, corn, and squash –
Holy Sisters, mutually sharing life-giving
minerals, nitrogen, fertilizer, and water –
amidst times of depletion and scarcity.

In the ecstatic ecstasy of human touch and companionship –
the wells of physical interconnection
and soul-expanding depths of conversation
amidst the valleys of shadow and despair.

There is a tremendous constancy of
Possibility,
hope and New Life,
all plainly modeled for us from
our Holy Mother, Earth –
and embedded in our incarnate bodies –
if we only listen
and follow.

Deacon Grant

Trust the Seeds

Hope [Inspired by Rabia’s ‘The Way the Forest Shelters’]