Happy Mothers Day Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature,

Happy Mothers Day!  You provide the world with beauty throughout the seasons.  You are home to all the plants and wildlife that flourish in your care.  Throughout my life, you have given me a place to worship God and to celebrate the gift of creation.  For all these things and more, I give thanks for you.

Love,
Your Son Brad

Steam rose from our cups. We could see our breath as we exhaled. The sky was dark as the coffee we were drinking. Eerie silence permeated the air. Functioning on four hours sleep, exhausted from paddling to our duck blind and putting out decoys, we had a few minutes to relax before reaping the rewards of our efforts.

As the sun crept over the horizon the marsh began to wake. Ducks started quacking and silhouettes of flocks navigating the early morning sky using a familiar “V” formation appeared. For the next few hours we tried to lure a few ducks within range with a feeble effort of mimicking their sounds using duck calls. A typical day would result in us bagging between 0-2 ducks. I wasn’t a very good shot so I typically came home empty-handed, which was okay because I didn’t like to clean nor eat them. We returned home with precious memories if not many birds.

These days I rarely leave the house.  Five or six years ago, the progression of my MS made attending worship service at church very difficult.  My friend Sue, a retired pastor and my spiritual mentor, came over to encourage me. She gave me the book, An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor. My take away from the book was that worship shan’t be confined to the four walls of a church. God is everywhere and I could worship anywhere.

My backyard became my altar.  While I had the ability to open and close the door myself, my dog Abbey and I spent a lot of time outside enjoying nature.  I remember watching her stand in the yard with her eyes closed, muzzle lifted skyward taking in the smells around her.  I loved the way the breeze would ruffle her long fur. I would find a good spot, lean back in my chair, enjoy the feeling of the breeze on my skin and the sun on my face, and drift off into a golden slumber.  Abbey would lie on the deck soaking up sunbeams.

Visits to my backyard provide opportunities to pay attention to the beauty of God’s creation. Sometimes I study the cumulus clouds as they gather in the sky or marvel at the bees as they pollinate nearby flowers. Listening to the songs of different birds I smile at their different feeding habits. When plumeria flowers finally reach full bloom their scent is intoxicating and the herbs from Linda’s garden find their way to our table almost every night. My gardener, Juan has transformed our landscaping several times by transplanting perennials. Many of our plants were started from seeds.

Everything about nature is awesome and through it, I connect with my spirituality.  In fact, I feel more connected with God in my backyard than anywhere else.

Today is a gift. There has never been, nor will there ever be, another just like it. So this Mother’s Day do yourself a favor and spend some quality time communing with Mother Nature.

“Nature bequeaths its own blessing on those who immerse themselves in it.”  Stephen R. Covey

“Mother Nature’s Son” is a Lennon–McCartney song, written primarily by Paul McCartney and released by the Beatles on The Beatles (The White Album). It was inspired by a lecture given by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi while the Beatles were in India.  The same lecture inspired Lennon’s unreleased song “Child of Nature,” the tune of which he later reused for “Jealous Guy.”

The Beatles, also known as the White Album, is the ninth studio album by English rock group the Beatles, released on 22 November 1968. A double album, its plain white sleeve has no graphics or text other than the band’s name embossed,^[a] and was intended as a direct contrast to the vivid cover artwork of the band’s earlier Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Although no singles were issued from The Beatles in Britain and the United States, the songs “Hey Jude” and “Revolution” originated from the same recording sessions and were issued on a single in August 1968. The album’s songs range in style from British blues and ska to tracks influenced by the Beach Boys and by Karlheinz Stockhausen.