Driving, I gave thanks to the nature’s invitation. As the mountains zipped by my car window I tried to imagine and feel what the mountains felt. How many roots are held within their rooted rising? Without thinking I heard myself whisper, “Come with me… come with me.” I gathered the mountains and trees. I gathered the hawks, ravens, and birds to small and fast for me to see. I gathered the grasslands and hills. “Come with me…come with me.” I gathered them all to take them to a place they had never been. A place where the trees, grasslands, mountains and hills would never know.

As my heart thrilled to imagine what it would be like to gather them all and take them on my journey they whispered back. A gentle whisper. “But here is where I am. Is it not beautiful as it is? Is where I am not itself an invitation?” I bowed my head and touched my heart. “Come with me…come with me. And I shall also remain rooted with you.”

And so I arrived with all. And so I never left.