• Beth Chapman
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Book
  • Blog
  • Media

16 Feb

Risen Reflection

Beth Blog 0 0

1

I journeyed to nature’s sanctuary seeking beauty. As I walked in silence my eyes were drawn to the mountain’s reflection upon the unfrozen part of the lake. I went seeking beauty. I went seeking to receive. Quietly and ever so gently, John O’Donohue’s words echoed in my mind and heart. I went seeking beauty. I went seeking to receive. With my hands to my heart I bowed in all four directions, downward to the earth and upward to the blue sky. With each bow I whispered, “I see you” and offered my thanks. I went seeking beauty. I went seeking to receive. I arrived to give. As in nature, so may I rise and bend with all.

“The beauty of the earth is the first beauty. Millions of years before us the earth lived in wild elegance. Landscape is the first-born of creation. Sculpted with huge patience over millennia, landscape has enormous diversity of shape, presence, and memory. There is poignancy in beholding the beauty of landscape: often it feels as though it has been waiting for centuries for the recognition and witness of the human eye. In the ninth Duino Elegy, Rilke says:
Perhaps we are here in order to say: house,
Bridge, fountain, gate, pitcher, fruit-tree, window…
To say them more intensely than the Things themselves
Ever dreamed of existing. 
How can we ever know the difference we make to the soul of the earth? 
Where the infinite stillness of the earth meets the passion of the human eye, invisible depths strain towards the mirror of the name. In the word, the earth breaks silence. It has waited a long time for the word. Concealed beneath familiarity and silence, the earth holds back and it never occurs to us to wonder how the earth sees us. Is it not possible that a place could have huge affection for those who dwell there? Perhaps your place loves having you there. It misses you when you are away and in its secret way rejoices when you return. Could it be possible that a landscape might have a deep friendship with you? That it could sense your presence and feel the care you extend towards it? Perhaps your favorite place feels proud of you.
Perhaps each day our lives undertake unknown tasks on behalf of the silent mind and vast soul of nature. During its millions of years of presence perhaps it was also waiting for us, for our eyes and our words. Each of us is a secret envoi of the Earth.” ~ John O’Donohue Beauty: The Invisible Embrace

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Related


beauty grace nature
Twitter Facebook

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Walking the Earth

  • IMG_2254
  • IMG_2255
  • IMG_2263
  • IMG_2258
  • IMG_2259
  • IMG_2262
  • IMG_2252
  • IMG_2251
  • IMG_2256

Recent Posts

  • Celebrating Mama’s Day
  • Whispered Trilogy
  • Spring Equinox
  • Polarities
  • Silence Broken

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Categories

  • Blog
  • Media

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2020
  • August 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • September 2017
  • May 2017
  • January 2017
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014

Recent Comments

  • Deborah Mars on Celebrating Mama’s Day
  • Deborah Mars on Spring Equinox
  • Beth on Spring Equinox
  • Deborah Mars on Spring Equinox
  • Deborah Mars on Polarities


  • Home
  • Bio
  • Book
  • Blog
  • Media

Copyright © 2014. Beth Chapman. All rights reserved.
 
 

Loading Comments...