In this last week of August, the Summer gardens are bearing fruit while the roots continue to seek nourishment bringing them to maturity. Flowers are still in bloom while the cherries and peaches are arriving in the markets for our dietary delights. And what of we the people who plant, harvest, market and consume these living treasures? Are our gardens producing kind hearts? Are our roots connected to kind thoughts? Are we flowering where we’re planted with kind words? Are the fruits of our labors kind deeds?

As I reflect on the many variables of life in this twenty first century, I’m drawn to the natural order of Nature and how interconnected we all are with the earth, sky, sun, moon, plants, animals, water, weather and seasons. I’m also drawn to  reflect on how disconnected most of us are most of the time from the natural order of life as we wrap more and more layers of division and confusion around ourselves and one another. What do we gain if the gardens fail, the roots rot, the flowers fade and the fruits spoil?  

Using Longfellow’s metaphor is a telling tale of how intertwined we all are with the natural order of things. It’s a pointer as to how important it is to daily remember to remember our part in creating a verdant, generative environment within ourselves and our habitats. The simple truth however, is that we’ve forgotten our part in this divine drama of Life here on planet earth. We’ve traded awareness for expedience, common sense for convenience, remembrance for forgetfulness and responsibility for disregard. 

As we continue to create more people, more plastic, more pollution, more alienation and disconnection, we tear at the fabric of our True Nature and the natural order of things in our environment. We forget who we are and how interconnected we are with the whole of our Earth mother, all her children and all our relations. Kindness turns to cruelty, remembrance turns to forgetfulness, freedom turns to slavery and delight turns to destruction. This appears in gross physical ways as well as in subtle psychic ways. 

As we end our season of Summer growth to transition into a season of Autumn harvest, let us remember to remember that we, like the trees and all organisms, are called to shed what is no longer operative so the new can again take root and grow. The harvest of our ignorance needs not be more ignorance but new growth, new awareness, new ways of being and doing. Let us remember to remember who we truly are and are not;  to awaken to a new awareness that brings kindness to the Earth and all it’s kin. 

• As you seek to ‘remember to remember,‘ reflect on you daily behaviors. How kind and friendly are you to the environment that flows within, around and through you?
• What ‘kind deeds‘ could you engage that would grow good fruit in your life, the lives of others and the life of the environment today, this week, this month, this year?
• How does this discussion involve the seasons of soul we’re in? What small resolution are you willing to make to bring forth more kindness to the earth community?
• What keeps you from ‘Remembering to Remember’ your interconnectedness to the whole of creation and your resolve of loving kindness for all your relations?