God’s Gift

God of the forest and field

God of the mouse hiding in tall grass.
God of the hawk, hunter of mice,
     food for her chick.
God of life nourishing life.

God of the coyote hunter of rabbits,
     food for her kits.
God of the rabbit, feeding on dandelions.
God of life nourishing life.

God of the creek to the ocean

God of salmon swimming downstream and up.
God of the Bear, fisher of salmon,
     food for the winter long.
God of life nourishing life.

God of the Osprey hunter of trout,
     food for her chicks.
God of the trout from cold mountains lakes,
God of life nourishing life.

God’s gift,
     life nourishing life.

Ruth Jewell, ©July 22, 2020

Olympic Peninsula, Hurricane Ridge, September 2003, by Ruth Jewell, The ‘fog’ is smoke from wildfires.

Dark Questions

This is the beginning of a discussion with myself on the re-visioning of my theology of God.

Dark energy moving
through cell, and bone, and flesh
Life flowing
Life Creating
pushing, pulling primal elements
together, apart

Home is a network
labyrinth, webwork of life
held together by ancient
arms that welcome,
that push back into
new life

Longing for home where
life begins anew
energy, dark ad moving
flowing, entering, leaving
cell, bone, and flesh
beginnings . . .  endings
life creating

Ruth Jewell, ©July 12, 2020

The Road We Travel

The labyrinth has always been a metaphor for our journey through life. Whether it is used to trap what you feel is evil, use it to let go of what troubles you, or use it to guide you through your life, it is and will always be, the road we all take. 

The center can be whatever we choose to call it, I choose to call it home and that is where I am going. I entered my labyrinth when I was born and I will walk it until I pass from this world into the next, when I go home. The mystics tell us we do not belong here, that we remember only vaguely where we came from, we have forgotten we will one day re-member with all that is home.

Early humans saw the winding one-way path more clearly than we who have forgotten where we came from and where we are going. They understood more clearly than us that we are simply travelers in this place. Like us they did not understand why we are here only that we had to journey home to where we belong. They recognized that every bend in the path represented each challenge we face in this long journey home, whether it be a challenge we have no control over, such as an illness, or something we created through our own ignorance, greed, or selfishness. 

We travel this path whether we want to or not, how we travel, what we do, or do not do, on the road creates each, and every, bend.  Every path is unique to each of us and we will walk it even if we do not want to. Every bend, every decision we make, every challenge we face and overcome will be recorded in the history of the universe. That history makes up the very fabric of the universe, the energy of life itself.  How we respond to our challenges, whether of our own making or not, creates the universe of life that births us all.

Ruth Jewell, ©May 16, 2020

NEVER THE WRONG PATH
By, Jeff Foster
(Merri Creek Labyrinth (Sidney Labyrinth),

May 16, 2020)

You cannot walk the ‘wrong’ path.
You can only walk the path.

For a moment, be present.
Breathe.
Let the past recede into the evening.

Feel your feet held on the vastness of the Earth.
Hear sounds shimmering all around you.

You cannot know you are walking the wrong path.
You are simply walking the path you are walking,
walking the path you cannot not walk.

Your walking makes it the path.

The path of this moment.
The only path you can touch.
The path your senses are meeting.

Behold, your path reveals itself in front of you, always.
Only a thought calls it wrong or right.
With doubt as your trusted guide, walk with courage…

In every sacred moment.
In every Now of Now.
Through every breath.
Through every joy and sorrow.
This is your path.

A Walk in the Woods

Today, I went into the woods
cool shadows covered me
soft breezes kissed me
my footsteps muffled by last year’s leaves
I breathe deeply
scents of leaf, violet, and damp earth surround me
robin, finch, and woodpecker serenade me
rabbit, doe, and fox walk beside me.
I walked in the woods today
creation sang her glory
life in all her splendor surrounded me
The Creator held me in her arms

Ruth Jewell, ©April 14, 2020
Photo: The Guardian of the Woods