Find a special place where you can be outside for a little while.
It might be a forest,
A garden,
A park,
A pathway.
Even a mountain,
A field,
Or simply a small patch of green near where you live.
You don't need to find a spectacularly beautiful place.
You only need a place where you can slow down enough to notice.
And if you need to get yourself there,
Feel free to pause this and make your way over to that special place.
Begin by allowing yourself to arrive.
If you are walking,
Slow your pace.
And if you are sitting,
Allow your body to settle.
Feel the ground beneath you.
Notice the air against your skin.
Notice the temperature.
The sounds around you.
The light.
The movement of your breath.
There is nowhere else you need to be for these next few moments.
So let yourself become present to this particular place.
When you're ready,
Begin to wander slowly,
Walking or wandering with your eyes around this special space.
You wander with no destination.
You let your attention to move freely through this landscape.
What do you notice?
Perhaps something catches your eye.
A tree,
A stone,
A patch of moss.
Light moving across the ground.
Or perhaps you hear something,
Wind through the leaves,
A bird song,
Or even a distant car.
And let yourself be drawn towards whatever calls your attention.
You do not need to know why.
Just simply notice.
If something continues to hold your attention,
Stay with it.
Look at it without needing to name it.
Let yourself encounter it before you interpret it.
You might silently say,
I am here.
You are here.
Let me receive what is here.
Take your time.
Now,
Allow your attention to become more intimate.
Stay with the particular part of creation that has drawn you.
Look closely.
Notice its shape.
Color.
Texture.
Movement.
It's stillness.
Notice what surrounds it.
What does it depend upon?
What depends upon it?
What relationships are visible here?
And what remains hidden.
Without forcing an answer,
Become curious about why this particular thing has caught your attention.
What does it awaken in you?
A feeling.
A memory.
A question.
A sense of beauty.
Don't turn what you see into a lesson.
You don't need to make nature say something profound.
Just listen.
Just listen.
Just.
.
.
Listen.
You may gently ask.
What am I being invited to notice?
What am I receiving from this encounter?
What is this place revealing about my life?
And then let the questions rest.
Return to what is actually before you.
The leaf,
Stone,
Water,
Sky.
The living world.
And just be with it.
Now allow whatever has arisen to become a prayer.
You might offer gratitude.
You might bring a concern.
Name something you are carrying.
Ask for guidance.
Or simply say,
Thank you.
Perhaps there is something you need to release.
Allow yourself to place it here within the wider presence of creation.
Perhaps there is something you need to receive.
Make room for it.
Perhaps there is something you need to say to God.
Say it honestly.
There is no need for beautiful words here.
You may pray silently.
You may pray aloud.
You may allow your prayer to become a breath,
A gesture,
A tear,
A smile,
Or simply your attention.
If it is helpful,
You might pray.
God of Earth and Sky.
God of every living thing.
Teach me to belong.
Teach me to receive.
Teach me to attend.
Teach me to love this world without trying to possess it.
And now simply listen.
Coming to an end of this prayer,
Let go of the questions.
Let go of interpretation.
Let go of the need to understand what this encounter means.
And for the next few moments,
Simply rest with the earth.
Rest with your breath.
Rest with the life around you.
Rest in the presence of God.
You are not separate from this living world.
You belong to it.
You are held within a vast community of life.
And the same divine presence that meets you here is not confined to this moment.
Remain here a little longer.
When you are ready.
Slowly become aware again of your surrounding.
Notice where you are.
The wider landscape.
Life moving around you.
And before you leave,
Offer a simple word of thanks.
Thanks for this place.
Thanks for what you have received.
Thanks for what you may not yet understand.
And when you are ready,
Begin to move again.
And let the practice continue beyond this place into your walking,
Conversations,
Work.
Into the ordinary world.
Perhaps you will see differently because you have learned to look.
To listen differently because you have learned to attend.
To remember that the sacred is not somewhere else,
It is here.
Here in this particular place.
Here among all these beings.
Here,
Within this living Earth.
And here.
Within you.
By the grace of God,
Go gently into the world.
Amen.
