On The Path
I have to admit that I really don't know my neighbors very well. I'm not talking about my human neighbors. We live in a small building, and we meet regularly to conduct coop business, so I'm acquainted with them. But I don't know a whole lot about the plants and trees in my neighborhood. Last week I went on an outing with a friend who had just been trained to participate in the New York City Parks Department's Tree Census. They are identifying and counting all the trees in the city -- in the parks, along the streets, in the roadway median strips, and elsewhere. Toinette had learned to identify trees by leaf structure, bark, and fruit. She demonstrated her knowledge as we walked through a country garden. I was impressed.
I remembered a trip to the Utah canyonlands with my sister. As we hiked, Cora would stop to gaze intently at the shrubs along the path. After a particularly long examination, when she declared, "I can't figure out what that is," I said, "Well, so what? Why do you have to categorize everything, put the plants in a box? Why can't you just let them be?"
She replied, "It's not about categorizing them. This is my way of really paying attention to them. This shrub is not like that shrub. There are differences. Trying to figure out what they are is my way of honoring the diversity of the creation."
Cora's response came to me while I was watching the "New Morning" program on "Finding Our Path." Chet Raymo is also honoring the creation when he really pays attention to the little wonders along the path from home to work he has walked for 40 years. After showing us some interesting plants, he says, "Just having a name for the things that one passes by makes them friends." In his book "The Path: A One Mile Walk Through The Universe," he writes: "Step by step, year by year, the landscape I traversed became deeper, richer, more multidimensional, always overflowing the mind that sought to contain it."
A spiritual path is a not a mind trip. It is a set of everyday practices that help us connect with our true self and with God. It is also a real path that takes us through the world and puts us in contact with our neighbors. I want to do a better job honoring everything I pass on my own path. I've discovered that the National Wildlife Federation www.enature.com website has a whole series of online field guides -- to trees, native plants, wildflowers, bird, insects, and more. I'll start by learning some names.