The-Places-of-this-Earth

The Places of this Earth

The Gifts of the Grandfather and the Grandmother Manzanita

As I climbed the trail to my sacred place high up on the side of Mt Lemon near Tucson Arizona it came to me that each rock, each tree, each shrub that stood all around me was giving me a gift and that the gift had always been there for me to receive for these things in their individuality and in their totality had always stood there emanating their love of God for all to see and experience. No thought, just pure love emanating from everything around me. To embrace this love and to give it right back to these things in this place was a marvelous experience for they each were emanating their own joy that I was and that I understood their nature, purpose and intent.

I came upon my special grandfather Manzanita tree, for he is indeed a tree, extremely rare among his own species and he too was emanating his love, radiating outward for any who were able to see him for the great and wise tree he is for he has stood in that place from a time long before any man stepped on the side of that mountain. He, in his individuality is the only one of his kind on planet earth.

I laid my hand upon his bark and in that instant he spoke to me for as I passed his love back to him he was healed of all affliction and he said to me so shall you be a healer in the fingertips of each of your hands and my finger tips came alive and tingled as I accepted this great gift; The glory of God so very present. My breath was taken from me and I found myself bent over trying to bring myself back from the dizziness I was feeling. This was easy for I concentrated on my breathing, breathing out my love of God and breathing in God’s love of me.

I then came upon Grandmother Manzanita a short way up the trail and knowing that I could then heal her I went to her and placed my hands upon the open wounds that I myself had caused. I had sinned against this wonderful being and I owed her a great debt for not many weeks before I had come like a thief in the night and I had cut from her two marvelous branches. Both of these branches were dead and I rationalized this desecration by telling myself that I was only removing the dead wood so that the tree would grow and prosper. I was wrong and she told me why. She said to me, “I was already perfect just as I was and you were unable to see me”. Now that you do and that you understand, you will never again fail to see the beauty all around you and gift your love of nature back to each of us and back to God. She thanked me for healing her. I repented my folly and my sin for I had cut those branches with lust and greed in my heart knowing that I could profit from them. I assured her that I would take no treasure for her limbs and that I would create beautiful works of them so that all men could glorify her and her great sacrifice. We parted in peace, each of us breathing out God to each other.

4/27/13