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Guest Blog by Beth Jones
Next to the trail on top of a nearby mountain, I pass a rock with a small depression, now filled with water from last night’s rain.
I dip my fingers beneath the surface of this small pool and feel an urge to touch my forehead in blessing and gratitude, as one passing through the doors of a sanctuary.
In my own tradition, there exist these simple, tactile reminders of faith: bread, wine, water, oil, ash—they serve as wordless connection to the Divine and I wonder where their ‘holy’ begins. Is it in the words and ritual only? Or in the gathered community? Could it be here, too, where they began their journey? Here, in the soil and seed, in the rock and springs where the eternal word of renewal and grace is echoed through the ages?
Above me, there is the slow reveal of color in early surrender to the season to come. Here too is the prayerful bowing and swaying of ferns in the breeze, surrendering their sacred gift of nourishing decay to the forest floor. This foundation below cradles the rocks, the roots, and my transient steps even as it reshapes and transforms in tune with the imperceptible dance of this mountain across time.
My understanding of divine presence has been shifting for years. Only recently have I started to trust this Presence that I followed out through the open doors of ritual, past those moments held in my hand or felt on my brow, out past the presumed boundaries of the sacred into a space that I can lean into with my whole being.
There is strength, for sure, in communal remembrance and ritual, prayer and posturing. And here, alone on the mountaintop, I feel a presence, powerful and proximate and—‘Holy’ is the only word that comes to mind. Calling me on to a wider winter vista, revealed only now in the sharp, clear air of a new season.
About the Author:
Beth Jones is the director of Deep Green Journey, a non-profit that seeks to connect individuals and organizations with the healing and wholeness found in the natural world through retreats, Forest Therapy walks, and backpacking adventures.
You can join Beth for a contemplative weekend soaking in nature's gifts this September 20 - 22 during the Center-sponsored, Slowing Down in the Wild: Women's Backpacking Trip. Registration will close Sept. 5th.
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