Have you hugged a tree today?

Being an unabashed “hugger” myself, this gives me a fun way for me to embrace something I care for deeply; a communion of sorts.  Before you judge me or get worked up, I feel compelled to clarify this terminology.  Just because I happen to love trees and get personal with them, it does not mean that I’m referring to the myriad of opinions usually associated with the term “tree hugger”. This is not a political commentary, merely a reflective one that refers to the literal act of wrapping my arms around trees in a prayerful manner to fully appreciate them with a devotional spirit.

Mother of Nature

                                    Dear Mother Nature, embrace me now;
                                            Hold me, hug me in your bough.
                                   Allow your willows to weep for me.
                                            Accept my arms around this tree.
                                   Dear Mother of mothers, heal my heart;
                                           Show me where your rainbows start.
                                   Oh, Mother of Nature, hear my cries
                                            As screaming eagles pierce the skies.
                                    Blanket me now, like snow on dunes,
                                           While the creek below me sings your tunes.
                                    The ground is my pillow; your stars are my guide.
                                           You cause my spirit to burst inside.
                                    Flush my cheeks with your blazing sun.
                                           Oh, Mother Nature, we exist as one.
                                    Dear Mother Nature, fill me, thrill me;
                                           Open my mind and set me free.

So if you wish to join me on future mountain journeys, I’m hoping to impress upon you the sacredness and enjoyment I personally experience in the Rockies, even if you, the reader, aren’t really feeling it.  I will not try to convert you into a “mountain person” or quote John Muir too much.  Even though I only have a little bit of Cherokee in me, my heart relates to nature in spiritual ways.
Here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia…please indulge me:

“For Native Americans, a relationship with God is experienced as a relationship with all of creation which interestingly, is ever present and does not require an institution or building.  All of creation has life.  Rocks, trees, mountains, and everything that is visible lives and is part of creation and therefore has life which must be respected.”