'I was thinkin' started the old woman. 'I was thinkin bout that time in the forest. Loveworthy loved the forest. A child of the great plains, Loveworthy yearned for the cold morning air tinged with the lush scent of pine, the towering trees pointing humbly to the magnificence that was the Rocky Mountains.'
'She had it in her head that to be in the forest, of the forest, she needed only the bare minimum of things from the human world. "Survival camping" she called it. "What", she pondered "are the bare essentials necessary to go to the woods?" So, with a backpack filled with the "bare essentials", she took to the forest. She would return from these ventures filled with stories of wonder...bears, eagles, trails that led to nowhere, sleeping under the stars, drinking from fresh mountain streams.'
'So one day, filled with the magic of the forest, Loverworthy convinced me to go with her. We drove into the country. It was so beautiful. I don't get out to see it anymore. Loveworthy turned onto a back road and we descended into a deep valley. Round the corner, we came upon a herd of cattle in the road. Finally, a chance to show Loveworthy my skills!'
'She parked the car. Once she got me out, we walked among the cows. I showed her how to call to them, to move them off the road. Oh, how we laughed! Cows going this way and that! Cows looking at us and wondering just what it is we wanted from them! Cows just standing there, chewing thier cudd, not at all interested in moving! Finally, we made a small path through the herd and drove through it to the wondering eyes of all. I was 98 then and hadn't felt so young in so many years!'
'Laughing, we drove on, deeper and deeper into the valley till the forest stood before us, inviting and dark. Without pause, Loveworthy drove into the woods, rolled down the windows and breathed as deeply as she could. The pine scent was intoxicating. The dark enveloped us and taught our eyes to see. The quiet pierced by the occassional bird call. The stillness rocked by the gentle breeze weaving its way through the trees. It felt as if we had entered a space so sacred, so magnificent, that the only appropriate response was to fall to my knees in prayer.'
'And, that's what Loveworthy did. She stopped the car and without a word, stepped into the quiet, so full of reverence that it radiated white around her. She stood quietly for a moment, her presence blending into the trees. Then, she fell to her knees and bowed her head to the ground. For several minutes, she kneeled there, the only sound the breeze through the trees and the beat of my heart.'
'Then she stood to face the east and raised her arms to the sky. In the silence, she reached to the gods. I saw white light flow from the sky into her outstreched arms. She gathered the light in her hands and brought it down into her body, then held it near her heart. It washed clean through her and then gathered in her hands. Holding her hands now in front of her heart, she opened them to the woods and the light flowed from her to all that stood in her path. The light filled the woods, sparkling off the leaves, dancing among the trees, flowing, flowing, flowing deep into the wood.'
'Then, she turned to face the south and once again stretched her arms to the sky. The light fell from the sky and flooded her body. She glowed. And again, she opened her arms to the south letting the light shine to all in her path. She turned twice more, first to the west and finally to the north, gathering the light from above, using it to heal and cleanse herself and then sending it out to all.'
'Facing east again, Loveworthy brought her hands up into a prayer and touched first her forehead, then her chin and finally just above her nose. Each pose, she held momentarily. Though no words came from her, I could hear the prayer of thanks given in each move of her body.'
'This prayer, she repeated in the other three directions until she finally came to rest facing east. I felt a tingling and saw that my skin was alive with goose bumps. As I looked into the forest, I saw the air alive with energy, a shimmer of white dancing atop the forest floor. And the stillness was as nothing I had ever before experienced. In that moment, I knew the "peace that passes understanding", I felt the universe in my soul, I was One with everything.'
'We didn't talk for a while after that. There were no words. But, as we drove I saw God in everything, in the flight of the eagle, the rush of the rivers, the sweeping of the pine crowns in the wind, the laugher of a chipmunk...'
'Loveworthy reminded me that day. Life is sacred. It is a gift. We are part of that gift. And, we can let that gift flow through us to heal ourselves and to send out to others in love.'
'Life is sacred.'
'She had it in her head that to be in the forest, of the forest, she needed only the bare minimum of things from the human world. "Survival camping" she called it. "What", she pondered "are the bare essentials necessary to go to the woods?" So, with a backpack filled with the "bare essentials", she took to the forest. She would return from these ventures filled with stories of wonder...bears, eagles, trails that led to nowhere, sleeping under the stars, drinking from fresh mountain streams.'
'So one day, filled with the magic of the forest, Loverworthy convinced me to go with her. We drove into the country. It was so beautiful. I don't get out to see it anymore. Loveworthy turned onto a back road and we descended into a deep valley. Round the corner, we came upon a herd of cattle in the road. Finally, a chance to show Loveworthy my skills!'
'She parked the car. Once she got me out, we walked among the cows. I showed her how to call to them, to move them off the road. Oh, how we laughed! Cows going this way and that! Cows looking at us and wondering just what it is we wanted from them! Cows just standing there, chewing thier cudd, not at all interested in moving! Finally, we made a small path through the herd and drove through it to the wondering eyes of all. I was 98 then and hadn't felt so young in so many years!'
'Laughing, we drove on, deeper and deeper into the valley till the forest stood before us, inviting and dark. Without pause, Loveworthy drove into the woods, rolled down the windows and breathed as deeply as she could. The pine scent was intoxicating. The dark enveloped us and taught our eyes to see. The quiet pierced by the occassional bird call. The stillness rocked by the gentle breeze weaving its way through the trees. It felt as if we had entered a space so sacred, so magnificent, that the only appropriate response was to fall to my knees in prayer.'
'And, that's what Loveworthy did. She stopped the car and without a word, stepped into the quiet, so full of reverence that it radiated white around her. She stood quietly for a moment, her presence blending into the trees. Then, she fell to her knees and bowed her head to the ground. For several minutes, she kneeled there, the only sound the breeze through the trees and the beat of my heart.'
'Then she stood to face the east and raised her arms to the sky. In the silence, she reached to the gods. I saw white light flow from the sky into her outstreched arms. She gathered the light in her hands and brought it down into her body, then held it near her heart. It washed clean through her and then gathered in her hands. Holding her hands now in front of her heart, she opened them to the woods and the light flowed from her to all that stood in her path. The light filled the woods, sparkling off the leaves, dancing among the trees, flowing, flowing, flowing deep into the wood.'
'Then, she turned to face the south and once again stretched her arms to the sky. The light fell from the sky and flooded her body. She glowed. And again, she opened her arms to the south letting the light shine to all in her path. She turned twice more, first to the west and finally to the north, gathering the light from above, using it to heal and cleanse herself and then sending it out to all.'
'Facing east again, Loveworthy brought her hands up into a prayer and touched first her forehead, then her chin and finally just above her nose. Each pose, she held momentarily. Though no words came from her, I could hear the prayer of thanks given in each move of her body.'
'This prayer, she repeated in the other three directions until she finally came to rest facing east. I felt a tingling and saw that my skin was alive with goose bumps. As I looked into the forest, I saw the air alive with energy, a shimmer of white dancing atop the forest floor. And the stillness was as nothing I had ever before experienced. In that moment, I knew the "peace that passes understanding", I felt the universe in my soul, I was One with everything.'
'We didn't talk for a while after that. There were no words. But, as we drove I saw God in everything, in the flight of the eagle, the rush of the rivers, the sweeping of the pine crowns in the wind, the laugher of a chipmunk...'
'Loveworthy reminded me that day. Life is sacred. It is a gift. We are part of that gift. And, we can let that gift flow through us to heal ourselves and to send out to others in love.'
'Life is sacred.'
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