Hymns of Harmony

[At the going away party, I felt] grateful to be alive then and there with such good fortune and so many loving, special friends. It was almost too much for me, and I had to wander off to the edge of the redwoods to be alone for a little while. I started listening to the insects absently, until I began to hear patterns and waves of patterns in their music. I could hear one chorus end and another start and hear the creatures all shift and syncopate their music to the new wave, and I realized, for the first time in my life, astounded, that they weren't making random noises, that they were actually singing in huge harmonies, harmonies of sweeping waves, harmonies involving thousands of voices! Ripples of subtle shifts were repeated as heard and transmitted for as far in any direction as I could focus my hearing. I looked up at the sky and the clouds and the stars and moon, and I looked at the silhouettes of the magnificent trees around me, the motion of the branches in the gentle wind. I thought of my many friends who loved me, .... I felt that rare oneness with the universe, that sense that maybe it all does mean something. I felt complete.

~ Reuel Parker

I think this sums up why we need "wild places."
How do we remain connected to the wider/larger harmonies of the world, with God's creation, with a sense of Paradise here and now?
As people on the water, where do we find these moments of astounding connection?
How do we share them with others?
How do they shape our lives as Beloved Children of God?
How do we join in this hymn of praise?

Blessed Be

St. Basil's Prayer for the Animals

Remaining connected to our surrounding environment, remains one of the things that excites us about moving aboard. For instance, today is a blowy rainy day. We hear the wind in the rigging, feel the boat move to the gusts, and hear the rain hit the deck. Living aboard invites us to pay attention to what is happening around us. We notice when the Harbor is having an algae bloom as the water turns a red. We notice when there has been lots of phosphorescence at night, as oars drip green and wakes glow. We are invited to notice. In the noticing the world around us invites us to join in songs of praise.

Noticing the environment, and indeed environmentalism is nothing new. In fact, I would hazard a guess that a blatant disregard for our environment is a rather recent development. So here is a quote from St. Basil the Great (c. 329-379 ce/ad) inviting us to pay attention, to mourn, the change our ways, and to celebrate with all of creation as the Kingdom of God becomes fulfilled in our midst.

O God, enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, our brothers the animals to whom you gave the earth as their home in common with us. We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised the high dominion … with ruthless cruelty so that the voice of the earth, which should have gone up to you in song, has been a groan of travail. May we realize that they live not for us alone but for themselves and for you, and that they love the sweetness of life.

~ St. Basil the Great, c. 329-379 CE