In the spring of 2013, Kevin Anderson was on retreat in southeastern Ohio.  As he sat on the back deck of a cabin in the woods, the rat-a-tat-tat of a woodpecker echoed through the forest. This moment led to the first of sixty-three brief meditations (none more than a page) on what nature can teach us about how to be in this world.

 

 

 

Noble willow,

 

for so long I have tried to

do God's will

 

but on this breezy summer day

all I want is to do nothing

 

but watch you so gracefully

do God's willow—

 

teach me how to be in this world.

 

 

copyright 2014 by Kevin Anderson

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noble sun,

 

on duty 24 / 7 / 365 / 4 billion

 

holding great orbs in orbit

 

but never too preoccupied

by the gravity

of your responsibilities

 

to ripen a tomato—

 

teach me how to be in this world.

 

 

copyright 2014 by Kevin Anderson

 

 

 

 

 

Noble woodpecker,

 

at home in the rotted

hollow of a trunk

 

your headbanging search for sustenance

ringing out, echoing—

 

metronome of the forest

 

completely in time

 

with the beat of your nature

with the rhythm of Nature

 

the tempo of eternity—

 

teach me how to be in this world.

 

copyright 2014 by Kevin Anderson

 

 

 

Noble elk,

 

standing in an icy rain

on a wooded mountainside

at midnight—

 

no home

but Earth

 

no wealth

but what is given

in each moment

 

no health care

insurance, only the assurance

of this breath

 

this now—

 

teach me how to be in this world.

 

 

copyright 2014 by Kevin Anderson