This meditation can be done while walking outside or seated in a comfortable position.
If you are choosing to listen seated indoors,
You may want to place a potted plant in your line of vision or invite your cat to your lap.
Saint Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of ecology.
He loved the natural world.
Let us begin with our breath.
Find a comfortable seat or comfortable pace if you are walking.
Before trying to control anything,
Just listen to your breath.
This is the wind entering and exiting your body.
The oxygen freshly made by the leaves near you is entering your lungs,
Nourishing your body.
Your exhale is doing the same for the greenery near you.
You are necessary to each other.
Take in this mutually beneficial exchange as you listen only to your breath,
In and out.
If you are walking,
Start observing what is around you.
What plants do you see?
What animals do you hear?
What do you smell?
If you are seated,
Start imagining yourself in the natural world.
What plants do you see?
What animals do you hear?
What do you smell?
Now,
Whether you are walking or seated,
Imagine yourself as truly part of what you are experiencing.
You are in an exchange with everything you see,
Hear,
And smell.
It is made of the same stuff you are.
At the end of your life,
Your body will return to the same stuff.
You have power to shape each other.
Look around your real or imagined landscape.
Notice how everything is breathing.
The animals around you,
Yes,
But also the trees and the plants.
The life flowing in and out of your lungs is also flowing in and out of everything around you.
You are sharing this experience with the rest of the earth.
You are connected.
Listen to this less famous legend about Saint Francis of Assisi.
There was a small town in Italy called Gubbio that was plagued by a dangerous wolf.
It had eaten livestock and taken the lives of several villagers.
In desperation,
The people of Gubbio called upon the then friar Francis to come help them.
His reputation for understanding and communicating with the natural world had spread.
Francis came to the town and heard their fears,
Pain,
And loss.
He cried with them and prayed with them.
The next day,
The townsfolk walked him to the edge of town and left him to face the wolf on his own.
Francis walked into the forest and soon became aware of the wolf's presence.
He addressed him as Brother Wolf,
And the wolf came forward.
How they communicated is a mystery,
But Francis shared the pain of the villagers who had lost family.
The wolf shared that he had been injured and left behind by his pack,
And he could only hunt stationary game like livestock.
He had only been defending himself when the villagers were killed.
Francis offered the wolf a bargain.
The people of Gubbio would feed him,
And he would protect the village.
Brother Wolf accepted.
Francis and Brother Wolf returned to the town together.
The people watched in fear and awe as they calmly and peacefully walked side by side to the town square.
Friar Francis explained the bargain to the mayor,
Who accepted.
The widow of the first man Brother Wolf killed was the first to bring him some food.
From then on,
The people of Gubbio had a protector and their Brother Wolf.
The townsfolk let go of the idea that Brother Wolf was their enemy,
And the wolf did the same.
Letting go allowed them to find peace and create a new future together.
Where are you struggling with a seemingly impossible force?
What do you need to let go of,
Or look at differently,
To create peace with the world around you?
How can you allow your connection with nature to surprise you?
What kind of future can you create?
Let your imagination come back to these questions through the day.
As our time together comes to a close,
Take a few more moments to drink in your connection to the natural world.
It always exists,
And we can always foster our awareness of it.
Listen to your breath once again,
And hold on to this relationship.
Thank you for taking this time today.
Use your next few breaths to re-enter the flow of your day.
