Dear Contemplative Companions,

I write to invite a united prayer of the heart with the creatures of the natural world who have boldly delivered their messages worldwide on 31 December 2010. Whatever reasons have been pondered–from poisoning by pesticides, to fright from fireworks–what to me seems an obvious omission is the significance of these occurrences on the last day of the past decade and on the eve of a new year and new decade. 

What are hundreds of turtle doves in Italy, thousands of crabs on the shores of England, penguins and petrels in New Zealand, jackdaws in Sweden, tons of tilapia in Vietnam, and sardines and catfish in Brazil trying to tell us? I’d like to include in this group the pollinating bumblebees in the United States that are declining at a rate of ninety percent affecting up to one-third of crop produce in the not-too-distant future, let alone depriving us of the beauty of flowers.

All this could be viewed as another cry from nature to wake up to the warning of limitations. But I feel it’s more.
Instead of a warning, it might be a hopeful awakening. It might be a collective invitation to the very necessary evolution of consciousness within the human race. In studying consciousness in nature I have discovered that creation provides the opportunities to experience wordless language, a unity of spirit, a synchronicity of thought not only through one-on-one encounters but among whole species regardless of place. It’s a transconscious reality. By recognizing that collective consciousness among humans also exists among other forms of life can contribute to a breaking down of the barriers that divide our minds and souls from what has been, for centuries, ingrained in many of our cultures as separate and distinct.

From this united point of view,

• Could the birds be telling us that we are losing the capacity for simple joy, to sing, to soar, to flow more freely in praise for the moment, grateful that we can still breathe the air? 
• Could the fish be telling us that life lived superficially on the surface of things only contributes to material enslavement, that the delights of diving deep is not only a Divine gift but within our capabilities to discover?
• Could the bees be saying that to taste the sweetness of life we need to curtail our unrestrained activities and busyness to allow balanced cooperation between the actions of wildlife and the actions of humanity? In other words, abiding as friends side-by-side with more sustainable consequences?

We, as contemplative practitioners aware of the power of the collective heart, and pure, purposeful mind, can, I believe, contribute a positive force by uniting with our non-human neighbors to turn the tide in this coming decade. May we heed–and spread–their particular messages of harmony, peace, spontaneity and joy.

In October, a young tree was planted in California, USA, and could be a living symbol of what we stand for, waiting patiently these winter months before sprouting new growth in the spring. Earthed by our prayers from so many traditions, may it be our praying tree for uniting with nature, going forward more closely together.

With gratitude for each of you and your support in loving creation to restoration,               
Lucinda M. Vardey
10 January 2011

Lucinda Vardey is a member of the Contemplative Alliance, and the author of several books including Being Generous: The Art of Right Living; Traveling with the Saints in Italy: Contemporary Pilgrimages on Ancient Paths, God In All Worlds: An Anthology of Contemporary Spiritual Writing, and Flowering of the Soul: Women's Prayers.