Dear Friends,

 We hope that you are safe and well.

 Today's meditation features Joan Chittister reflecting on "Contemplation and Nature."

 We invite you to join us as we commit ourselves to working tirelessly to end systemic and structural racism in our society, in the church, in healthcare, in the workplace--wherever it shows up so that everyone may come to have more abundant life. May this meditation nourish our contemplative-active hearts and sustain all of us in action.

In the spirit of our philosophy of co-creating community and our awareness that the Spirit speaks through each of us, we invite you to share your meditations with us as well. We truly believe that it is God's economy of abundance: when we share our blessings, our thoughts, our feelings, we are all made richer.

We hope and pray that you find peace, healing, hope and the infusion of joy in your life!

With our love and care,

Ron and Jean

MEDITATION 498: Joan Chittister: "Contemplation and Nature"

The contemplative sees everywhere the One from whose life all life comes. All of life, the contemplative knows, reflects the face of God. To live with nature as an enemy is to fail life. To walk through nature as its dictator is to wrench the balance of life. To fail to see the voice of God in the balance of nature, the beauty of nature, the struggle of nature is to go through life blind of heart and deaf of soul.

To be a contemplative it is necessary

to walk through nature softly,

to be in tune with the rhythm of life,

to learn from the cycles of time,

to listen to the heartbeat of the universe,

to love nature,

to protect nature,

and to discover in nature

the presence and the power of God.

To be a contemplative it is necessary to grow a plant, love an animal, walk in the rain, and profess our consciousness of God into a lifetime of pulsating seasons.