Based on the research and conclusions you have drawn from question 1 through 12, describe how you might further extend your personal and/or group spiritual practices to include the Nature Spirits and other natural elements. (minimum 300 words)
I’d really like to encompass more of my life-style into the natural world. Out of my Grove, I am probably the most connected with nature and her cycles due to living the life of a 4th generation farmer. I grew up in nature, following nature, working with nature, and enjoy what nature has to provide. It wasn’t until my spiritual self awoke in my teens that I realized I needed to return that favor. A gift for a gift, as they say.
When we kill animals now for food, I offer a prayer and I give back to nature. When I eat dinner during the warm seasons, I eat it out on the back deck and take time to reflect and appreciate the birds and wildlife in the woods behind my house. When we grow crops and leech the nutrients from the soil to do so, we plant a barley cover crop to grow, die, and nourish the soil to replace the nutrients we used.
But despite what knowledge I grew up with, it is a lifetime journey learning ways to live in harmony with nature. It is even more my duty to teach others within my Grove to do the same that did not have the same upbringing I did. Living a life more connected to nature in an urban or suburban neighborhood is no easy task, but we are doing this at CedarLight. We have a beautiful sanctuary that we planted ourselves, which provides that little piece of nature within concrete sidewalks and streets. We go on regular trips within nature to clean up streams or to camp in the wilderness and keep that connection going. We share our knowledge of the earth and our skills to live in harmony with nature with each other so we can all be kinder to our mother and the spirits that share this land with us. Simply living in balance with nature is a spiritual act in itself, and the best way we can do this is by living it, and share it with others so that they can continue the process.
(Word Count: 351)
