"Earth and heaven are the same, one and inseparable." John Muir Photo: Glacier Lilies, Flattops Wilderness, CO, June 19, 2016 For Spiritual Direction or Workshops, please visit: www.resourcesforspiritualgrowth.com/ "[Here is] one of the plant saints that all must love and be made so much the purer by it every time it is seen. It puts the roughest mountaineer on his good behavior. With this plant the whole world would seem rich though none other existed. It is not easy to keep on [moving] with the camp cloud [of sheep] while such plant people are standing preaching by the wayside." John Muir Photo: Marsh-marigolds growing of the shore of Lake McGinnis, Flattops Wilderness, CO, June 18, 2016. This quote was written when Muir worked in his early years in California as a sheep herder. For Spiritual Direction or Workshops, please visit: www.resourcesforspiritualgrowth.com/ "Upon suffering beyond suffering, the Red Nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world. A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations. A world longing for light again. I see a time of Seven Generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the Sacred Tree of Life and the whole Earth will become one circle again. In that day, there will be those among the Lakota who will carry knowledge and understanding of unity among all living things, and the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom. I salute the light within your eyes where the whole Universe dwells. For when you are at the center within you and I am at that place within me, we shall be one." Chief Crazy Horse Tasunke Witko Oglala Lakota c. 1840-1877 Several weeks ago, a client sent me a beaded Lakota belt bag as a gift! I brought it on my backpacking trip last weekend, and found it both inspiring and useful. A loop on the back of the bag attaches to my belt. Then I fill it with things to which I need ready access. Here, I have a topographic map (which gets folded once more before being placed in the bag), a packet of mosquito repellant wipes, my Swiss army knife (which has many functions, but which I use especially for snipping extraneous greenery in closeup plant photography), and a tube of sunscreen. To me, the design brings a centered feel, and the intense blue of the background reminds me to maintain a spacious, meditative mindset. There appear to be four lightning streaks beaded into the bag as well, which call me to stay with the energizing force of my soul-passion. The fringe, on the other hand, reminds me of the vivaceous energy of the sacred feminine and calls me to embody feminine flow in my own life. What a gift this bag is! Photo: Lakota belt bag and Trapper's Peak at Trapper's Lake, Flattops Wilderness, CO, June 19, 2016 For Spiritual Direction or Workshops, please visit: www.resourcesforspiritualgrowth.com/ #lakota #crazyhorse #nativeamericanwisdom #stephenhatch#wildernessmysticism #contemplative life #unrulymystic "What nobler employment can we engage in than having the thoughts of God in silence and solitude as best we can, where the manifestations of His power are barest, far from stupefying noises and vice, far from ourselves?" The Contemplative John Muir This past weekend I went solo backpacking in the Flattops Wilderness south of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I especially enjoyed being away from the internet and cell phone, to really get in touch with my true self. I loved being able to sit at my campsite and meditate, journal and seek Insight. Photos: My tent on Skinny Fish Lake, Flattops Wilderness, CO, June 19, 2016 For Spiritual Direction or Workshops, please visit: www.resourcesforspiritualgrowth.com/ "All the rocks seem talkative . . . They are dear friends, and have warm blood gushing through their granite flesh, and I love them with a love intensified by long and close companionship." The Contemplative John Muir What a place to enjoy morning coffee! My backpacker's stove heats water in about 3 minutes. Then I add a packet of Starbuck's freeze-dried coffee and sit back and have a wonderful conversation with the snowy mountain, the osprey and various waterbirds frequenting the lake, the elegant spruces and firs, the new-made morning air! Photo: My backpacker's camp on Skinny Fish Lake, Flattops Wilderness, CO, June 18, 2016 For Spiritual Direction or Workshops, please visit: www.resourcesforspiritualgrowth.com/ |
AuthorStephen Hatch, M.A. is a spiritual teacher and photographer from Fort Collins, Colorado. His approach is contemplative, inter-spiritual, and Earth-based. Archives
June 2016
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