Another Wild Church in our area

I attended a new Wild Church in our area yesterday: Wild Wood Gathering. 

It was St. Brigid's day so the focus was on the transition into spring. It was a perfect day weather-wise for it. 

This poem by Mary Oliver was shared:

Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful
than the way the sun, 
every evening, 
relaxed and easy
floats toward the horizon
and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea, 
and is gone--
and how it slides again

out of the blackness,

every morning,

on the other side of the world,

like a red flower

streaming upward on its heavenly oils,

say, on a morning in early summer,

at its perfect imperial distance--

and have you ever felt for anything

such wild love--

do you think there is anywhere, in any

language, 

a word billowing enough

for the pleasure

that fills you, 

as the sun

reaches out, 

as it warms you

as you stand there, 

empty-handed--

or have you too

turned from this world--

gone crazy

for power, 

for things?

We shared any reflections we had from the reading.

We were invited to spend time wandering around the property, engaging with the land, nature. I spent time with trees.

I found shoots of new life coming out of the ground, little green stems about 3-4 inches tall that will eventually bud, blood, and become the flowers they are.

I found a small stump shaped like a heart. It's the only photo I took. It was across a small ditch. With the rain we had recently, I didn't want to jump for a closer photo. The heart was a good noticing for me. It made me happy to see it.

#SeeAHeartShareAHeart

The sky was clear blue and the warmth of the sun was wonderful.

We gathered back together and shared our reflections.

We had a time of prayer.

Someone read a short reading about Saint Brigid from John O'Donohue's Anam Cara.

We closed with the song "Here Comes the Sun" with the host playing guitar, someone drumming on a beatbox (cajon box/drum). It was a perfect ending.

Clouds had begun to float across the clear blue sky by now, creating different patterns above us. They covered the sun off and on, but didn't take away the fullness of the sun.

It was good to have this time with another Wild Church.

I have been facilitating Bamboo Encounter since May 2019. It is good to sit back and receive, to be fed at times instead of leading.

I am grateful for the space to be outside, to spend time reflecting, wandering, gathering with others, and worshipping. I look forward to the next gathering.

Deb