CONSIDERATIONS

May 2007 e-mail
Ned,
(Ned has since died and traveled on to his final resting place among the tribal elders he respected and honored so much. He taught me; I tried to listen and comprehend his teachings, and in the end he reached out to me feeling that I might have retained some of his teachings. Check out IAIS, Washington, CT)

I have not been ignoring you intentionally, just pondering your request. I really don't have any favorite quotes or poems that I have committed to heart but do respond quietly within myself to words written with great thought. I do have a book that was given to me that has many quotations that tickle my inner self, either to inspire me to write something like it or just to say that I truly understand this item. The book, "A Nature Lover's Book of Quotations", has several that I will relate to you and give you the reasons that they stick with me so much.

The first is:
The quieter you become the more you will hear. __ RAM DAS
I really identify with this quote as I walk or hike throughout Jasper Ridge listening for the sounds of nature. The chirp of the chipmunk, the rustle of the lizard in the pathside grass. The calls of the raven, jay, kite, thrasher and quail. I hear things that others do not because I pay attention to those sounds and have learned to identify them. The extreme of this was walking one day when I heard a sound that was strange to me. I stopped, listened some more and found the source of the sound.... a trail of foraging ants! The scurrying back and forth of ants, some carrying larvae in one direction while others racing in the other with food items tightly clasped in their jaws. I could also smell them once I got close enough.

Another quote is:
We regard all created beings as sacred and important, for everything has a wochangi, or influence, which can be given to us, through which we may gain a little more understanding, if we are attentive.
BLACK ELK

The influence of quotes, such as the above, is to hopefully gain a little more understanding and to prepare to pass this understanding on to others as a means of feeling a part of nature not just an observer of nature.

Posted on February 26, 2011 05:49 AM by bob-dodge