Kate Wolfe-Jenson was the planned speaker on August 14, 2022

Thomas Kelly said, “in the depth of common worship, it is as if we found our separate lives were all one life, within whom we live and move and have our being.”

The depth of common worship

here we are
rooting down
into the depths
into the darkness
of sacred mystery

So we sit
connected to earth
tending to our roots
searching, turning,
discovering tendrils
linked to each other

Old growth forests
are not just
collections of trees
(beautiful transformers
of sunlight, earth, and
carbon into air)
trees are interconnected
by mycorrhizas,
fungal networks that carry
information and nourishment

Through this network
very much like the neural networks
we carry in our brains
trees divert nourishment
to young ones and weak ones
through this network
forests are protected from drought, pestilence, and predators
it’s not about the individual tree
(though it is)
it’s about the forest

May the forests be our teachers
and may we be good students!
It’s not about you or me
(though it is)
it’s about all of us
together
rooting down
into the depth
of sacred mystery

May we bring the
fresh air of love,
compassion, and strength
to a fear-filled and heartbroken world

Some queries:
How are you connecting?
Where are you being fed?
Who and what are you nourishing?