Nature’s Healing Ways
By Anne A. Simpkinson, Director of Communications
Posted on
Program participants and retreatants frequently walk the grounds here at Mercy by the Sea, as do staff members. For guests, the land and water offer opportunities for quiet reflection. For staff, walking the property can clear our heads or give us the chance to move our bodies, which have been sitting too long. It’s also a beautiful way to walk towards one’s daily goal of 10,000 steps.
Not too long ago, I was doing the latter, using the excuse of picking up the mail at the head of the Center’s driveway. It would have been a sin not to listen to the songbird chirps and seagull calls, check out which wildflowers have blossomed and swing by the blackberry patch to see if any are ripe for the picking — and eating.
This day, however, I stumbled on the most amazing phenomenon. A stem of a plant had broken, and out of the break, a shoot was growing. Out of brokenness came healing. The plant’s life force would not be stopped but surged forward into new growth. I can’t but smile at Nature’s not-so-subtle lesson.
Now, on those days that I walk down to get the mail, I specifically look for the broken-yet-growing branch. I stand and marvel at Nature’s ways. My eyes feast on the image, which feeds something deep inside me; perhaps it fills a well of hope and trust. Perhaps, to paraphrase Julian of Norwich, “All is truly well.”
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