Lake Cochichewick and Acorns

Lake Cochichewick and Acorns

by Susan Stuart

In early October, author Debra Anne LeClair was our guide for a Day Apart retreat at Rolling Ridge entitled Roots and Rhythms: Exploring Celtic Spirituality. It was an informative and experiential day interspersed with discussions on the divine in creation, the everyday as sacred, and the paradox of divine presence. The gathering also included meditations inviting us to delve deeper into our Celtic roots and ancestry.

I feel called to share with you one such meditation that had at its heart our relationship to the land and the Celtic notion of the embedded wholeness of God in all living things as a living scripture. A cherished example of this is Julian of Norwich perceiving the whole of God’s love in a simple hazelnut. For all things in creation, if God made it, God loves it, and God keeps it.

At this point in our retreat day, Debra sent us all outdoors. Our instructions were to walk the grounds of Rolling Ridge, looking for something in nature that spoke to us. When we found it, we were to ask permission to touch and interact with it. If it said, “Yes,” we were to ask two questions and wait for the answer: first, “What is it like to be you?” and second, “What do you want me to know about you?” In all honesty, I was a little doubtful about trying this meditation. But being a good participant, I decided I would give it a go.

We all left the Moses Room and started wandering the grounds. I went straight to Lake Cochichewick to stand on its shore. I looked around for a moment, and then in my mind asked, “What is it like to be you?” Before I even got the words out, she said, “I never rest.” Hmm. Then I asked, “What do you want me to know about you?” I immediately felt her sense of joy, gladness, and gratitude. “She was so happy to be asked. She explained that there is a whole symbiotic community that she celebrates within her. It brings her so much joy. Something is always being born, and yes, something is always also dying. We all work together supporting one another. Humans can’t see it all from on top of her, but it is there in a vast community beneath her surface.”

Then I felt a sense of sadness. She went on saying, “I am not like the shell of a hazelnut. I can’t protect what’s beneath and within me. I need help from humans who can help to protect and support me and our community.” And then she was gone.

Once back in the Moses Room, we were invited to share what we experienced. Participants told stories of interacting with mushrooms, trees, leaves and many other things. Humorously, one participant shared that as she walked around the grounds, nothing was really speaking to her. So, she went and sat on the bench near the fountain. While sitting there, an acorn dropped to the ground right in front of her. She looked at it and asked it, “What is it like to be you?” The acorn said, “I’m confused. One minute I’m twenty feet up in the air on a tree and the next I’m down here on the ground? What just happened? And why am I here?” Another participant shared that she had picked up an acorn off the ground, and it had told her, “Don’t pick me up! Put me back down on the ground. I’m here to feed the squirrels. They get very hungry in the winter.” So, she did as the acorn requested.

What this meditation taught all of us is that creation does indeed have something to say to us, if we are just willing to listen. So, the next time you are at Rolling Ridge, or even in your backyard, I invite you to look around and notice if something draws your attention. Then ask the two questions and wait for the response. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

‍