Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 12:12am
Words of life
Column: Our Place in the Universe
"I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon." (Hosea 14:4-6)
I am in the process of discovering what direction I will be going in with my doctoral dissertation. Maybe some of you would think this backwards. Often we will have an idea first, and a direction, and then decide that this would be a nice way to build upon a topic, or expand an idea with details never before thought of.
I guess I feel a little more like Noah. Build an ark. You're kidding, right? Build it on a mountain. Yeah, right. Better get going, because you'll need time to collect the animals. Animals? Noah had no idea; he was just doing what he was told.
I was talking to my daughter. She's getting married in August, and we have been looking at different places to have the ceremony and reception. I told her that one place she liked was nice, but this other one felt better — it had a better spirit. She said, "Mama, don't tell anyone else that." "Why not? It's true," I responded. "I know that, but they'll think you're crazy." You've got to give Noah's wife a lot of credit for staying with him during the whole ark-building adventure.
My adventure is not quite as monumental as the Ark, but I do feel that there's something that I need to accomplish. Like Miss Rumphius, who had to do one more thing to make the world more beautiful, I feel I have to do something to help with healing — healing the Earth, healing the heart of humanity, healing the heart of the Beloved.
And it has to do with words. Healing words, peaceful words, truthful words. Words that support, that uplift, that inspire, that reveal. Words that appreciate, that give hope, and strength, and the courage to continue. Words make up our stories, weaving a web of life, connecting us together and filling us with delight and with new life.
God's word is revealed by how it flows. Different cultures and peoples have distinctive words, for life is diverse, and growing up in New York City is different from growing up in Banjul. Just as water must flow in order to be the origin of life, a stream can support the growth of lilies and a river can grow a cypress. However, a small stream joins the river and the river the ocean, and all things can gain life through this cycle.
Suppose we are a reservoir that stores these words. Are you keeping the words inside, or are they flowing out for the sake of others? The size of your reservoir doesn't matter; even a small one can overflow with truth, beauty and goodness. As water flows out of you, it will provide water for others. Perhaps it will evaporate and form clouds and give rainfall to all things; this circulation takes place everywhere, benefiting everyone.
In this way, words can sustain the life of all things. What words are we raining down on others? What is the quality of the words that feed our heads and our hearts? This value is what I want to emphasize, to unfold in my work, with my own words. If we were created with the Word, surely we can be re-created with the word.
In this time of spring, when the gentle rains can ease the transition from winter, in like manner gentle words can ease our suffering and soften the ground so that our original beauty can be reflected in the flowers that blossom. I'm hoping that my dissertation will weave a web of healing that just might reflect enough light to create a rainbow!
— — —
Anne E. Ulvestad is a free-lance writer residing in Maryland. Having gotten her MA in earth literacy, she is now embarking on the further adventures of a Ph.D. in Wisdom Studies. She is available for public lectures and group presentations and rituals on Spirituality and the Environment. Anne can be reached at {email anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com}anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Anne E. Ulvestad.
I am in the process of discovering what direction I will be going in with my doctoral dissertation. Maybe some of you would think this backwards. Often we will have an idea first, and a direction, and then decide that this would be a nice way to build upon a topic, or expand an idea with details never before thought of.
I guess I feel a little more like Noah. Build an ark. You're kidding, right? Build it on a mountain. Yeah, right. Better get going, because you'll need time to collect the animals. Animals? Noah had no idea; he was just doing what he was told.
I was talking to my daughter. She's getting married in August, and we have been looking at different places to have the ceremony and reception. I told her that one place she liked was nice, but this other one felt better — it had a better spirit. She said, "Mama, don't tell anyone else that." "Why not? It's true," I responded. "I know that, but they'll think you're crazy." You've got to give Noah's wife a lot of credit for staying with him during the whole ark-building adventure.
My adventure is not quite as monumental as the Ark, but I do feel that there's something that I need to accomplish. Like Miss Rumphius, who had to do one more thing to make the world more beautiful, I feel I have to do something to help with healing — healing the Earth, healing the heart of humanity, healing the heart of the Beloved.
And it has to do with words. Healing words, peaceful words, truthful words. Words that support, that uplift, that inspire, that reveal. Words that appreciate, that give hope, and strength, and the courage to continue. Words make up our stories, weaving a web of life, connecting us together and filling us with delight and with new life.
God's word is revealed by how it flows. Different cultures and peoples have distinctive words, for life is diverse, and growing up in New York City is different from growing up in Banjul. Just as water must flow in order to be the origin of life, a stream can support the growth of lilies and a river can grow a cypress. However, a small stream joins the river and the river the ocean, and all things can gain life through this cycle.
Suppose we are a reservoir that stores these words. Are you keeping the words inside, or are they flowing out for the sake of others? The size of your reservoir doesn't matter; even a small one can overflow with truth, beauty and goodness. As water flows out of you, it will provide water for others. Perhaps it will evaporate and form clouds and give rainfall to all things; this circulation takes place everywhere, benefiting everyone.
In this way, words can sustain the life of all things. What words are we raining down on others? What is the quality of the words that feed our heads and our hearts? This value is what I want to emphasize, to unfold in my work, with my own words. If we were created with the Word, surely we can be re-created with the word.
In this time of spring, when the gentle rains can ease the transition from winter, in like manner gentle words can ease our suffering and soften the ground so that our original beauty can be reflected in the flowers that blossom. I'm hoping that my dissertation will weave a web of healing that just might reflect enough light to create a rainbow!
— — —
Anne E. Ulvestad is a free-lance writer residing in Maryland. Having gotten her MA in earth literacy, she is now embarking on the further adventures of a Ph.D. in Wisdom Studies. She is available for public lectures and group presentations and rituals on Spirituality and the Environment. Anne can be reached at {email anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com}anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Anne E. Ulvestad.