“Behold, my brothers, the spring has come; the earth has received the embrace of the sun and we shall soon see the results of that love!
Every seed has awakened and so has all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being and we therefore yield to our neighbors, even our animal neighbors, the same right as ourselves, to inhabit this land.”
—Tatanka Iyotake, Sitting Bull
This Sitting Bull quote appeared as I was shifting from spring into summer. The humidity rising told me the growing season is underway. Every year I am more acutely aware of the shift in seasons and this movement from seed planting to seed sprouting and growing is capturing my thoughts right now.
Seeds planted this year range from the physical awareness of how our bodies age and need to be tended as they grow, to the random ideas that emerge from a package of wildflower seeds. It is work to nourish this physical plant. It is work to tend, to weed, to strengthen this plant. If neglected, this plant responds with the strain of movement that lying still for some time creates.
I much prefer to concentrate on the randomness of the wildflower seeds, to be surprised with what blooms, to be awed by the diversity that emerges even though the planting and tending are the same.
This is the time when faith becomes apparent to me. I believe the seeds will sprout and grow. I believe in the pattern, in the life cycle of growth. Believing in the pattern is more than a belief, it is a knowing that this is life. It is a knowing that this pattern will always happen. Faith often involves for me the added complexity of relationship. I have faith that all of us will intentionally take part in this pattern of life. I have faith that each of us will do our best to care for those seeds planted each cycle. How I personally respond to this innate desire to care for the seeds planted in my garden is part of who I am. My response may be different than your response, but we are both responding in the way we feel called, and we each believe we are doing our best. This is part of the wildflower randomness.
And this gives rise to the recognition that growth is not only personal, but also universal. Just as I recognize my personal responsibility to grow, that same call is in all sentient beings. Each living being wants to grow. Each living being faces challenges to that growth. Each living being responds to that growth in personal ways. My call and I share this life with all other living beings. What a communal challenge—how do we grow personally in the midst of everyone/everything else growing? How do we share the resources needed for this growth in responsible and lifegiving ways for all?
I believe we can figure this out if we are willing to be in relationship with each other and the other living beings around us. This relationship involves conversation/communication. It involves the vulnerability of saying, “this is what I need; what do you need?” and really mean it. It involves looking closely at what I think I need and what I actually need to be sustained. It involves the ability to continually reflect on what I need and what others need at the same time. I have faith that we can each do this. This skill begins with each person and the willingness to be in honest conversation with the other. It begins with each of us knowing ourselves and then sharing that self with the other. This is not about telling someone else what to do, it is about recognizing what each living being needs to be fully alive and making sure the resources are shared so that all have the opportunity to thrive.
Sitting Bull recognized this reciprocity, and I am wondering: What does this reciprocity look like today?
—Ellen Bruckner