Spirituality of Nature: Harmony With All Life
Spirituality through nature, so coveted by the North American Indian, is sadly viewed as a platitude in today’s world. No one really thinks a tree is your friend or the wolf your brother. But to the Indians of lore they were a symbiotic essence no greater or smaller than man. Even a seed had a subsistent value.
The famous leader and holy man of the Hunkpapa Lakota Indian Tribe, Sitting Bull , strongly believed in the spirit of harmony with nature and man’s duty to preserve it; his profundity more common sense than fable:
“Every seed is awakened and so is all animal life. It is through the mysterious power that we have our being and we therefore yield to our animal neighbors the same rights as ourselves to inhabit this land.” ²
“Behold, my friends, the spring has come; the earth has gladly received the embrace of the sun and we shall soon see the results of their love.” ²
“They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use, and fence their neighbors away from her with their buildings and their refuse.”²
Chief Seattle a member of the Suquamish Tribe and Duwamish Chief, expressed his perspective on the oneness of nature through the eyes of despair in his poignant narrative of 1854 asreported by Henry A. Smith in 1887. The following quote from that narrative saddened my heart like no other:
“But why should I mourn at the untimely fate of my people? Tribe follows tribe, and nation follows nation, like the waves of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless. Your time of decay may be distant but it will surely come, for even the white man cannot be except from common destiny.”
Conversely, these same wise men would weep in despair today if made witness to the world’s precious environs being systematically decimated, scorched, and abused; never to nurture again. The peaceful and unifying testaments to the brotherhood of life-animal, plant and human, must be revisited and the proper stewardship of mother earth taken seriously, while we still can.
...“All things share the same breath-the beast, the tree, the man. The air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.” –Chief Seattle
*In retrospect, self and singularity of purpose may be anti-life.
The following prayer from the Chinook of Oregon and inspiration for this post, is perhaps the most fitting and simplistic attempt at understanding the spiritual harmony of nature:
Maker of Trees
May all I say and all I think
Be in harmony with thee,
God within me, God beyond me,
Maker of the trees.
In me be the windswept truth of shore pine,
Fragrance of balsam and spruce,
The grace of hemlock.
In me the truth of douglas fir, straight and tall,
Strong-trunked land hero of fireproof bark,
Sheltering tree of life, cedar’s truth be mine,
Cypress truth, juniper aroma, strength of yew.
May all I say and all I think
Be in harmony with thee,
God within me, God beyond me,
Maker of trees.
In me be the truth of stream lover willow
Soil-giving alder
Hazel of sweet nuts,
Wisdom-branching oak.
In me the joy of crabapple, great maple, vine maple,
Cleansing cascara and lovely dogwood.
And the gracious truth of copper branched arbutus,
Bright with color and fragrance,
Be with me on Earth.
May all I say and all I think
Be in harmony with thee,
God within me, God beyond me,
Maker of the trees.
Chinook of Oregon 4
Please listen to the true version of The Two Wolves, a beautiful tale of conscience and peaceful co-existence.
Gratitude to the great creator for the magnificent, wondrous creation of a tree!! They are truly sacred!! Thanks for sharing this post. Your insight and love of the written word are a gift♥️ Love you sis.