As I write this, I am looking out of my window at an odd scene. There is, underneath it all, a tree that died several years ago in its youth due to a storm and likely some lightning. We cut the tree back leaving a trunk that stands about five or six feet tall. In the ensuing years, Virginia Creeper and wild Honeysuckle have created layers and layers of green vines around it. Both vines are invasive and not something we human types like or cultivate. In fact, we often spend time working to eradicate them from our human landscapes. 

And there’s more. Right in the middle of the top of this vined mess wrapped around the dead tree (which we humans left for the vines to climb) is a bird’s nest. From my vantage point, I can see one of the parent birds preening and cleaning, and that part of the picture softens me, makes me feel good about nature, and life, and birds. I see the bird and the nest, and my heart warms. I see the vines and I grimace. And yet, there is not one without the other.

Foundational to the spiritual journey is this: all things, all people, all beings are connected, ultimately. Not only are we connected, but we are interdependent. I live under the illusion that Virgina Creeper and Honeysuckle are “bad” plants and that they have chosen to do evil things here in my backyard. In fact, these two vines would not be there except that I, the human being, chose to cut a dead tree back only to a certain extent giving the vines their perfect location for life and growth. I, the human being, the dead tree, and the two vines have unwittingly collaborated with these birds to build a home, create new life and contribute to the grand work of Mother Earth. 

Witnessing all of this unwitting collaboration leaves me sort of gobsmacked. Look what we did!  And those pesky vines were part of it!

Do I dare bring this life lesson to the unwitting collaborations that we humans are currently involved in? We live under the illusion that political parties are separate from each other, that people with different skin tones, languages, religions and geographical locations are “other” than we are and utterly different. We act like life would be perfect if we just didn’t have to contend with “those people.” And we all do this, silently and out loud. 

I know two things. I know that there are groups of people that I think of as “the problem.”

And, I know that all things, all people, all beings are connected, ultimately. We will collaborate together, wittingly or unwittingly. The spiritual journey invites us to this challenge.

~Robert Patrick

If these kinds of questions and experiences sound familiar, you might find spiritual direction a good way to explore them.  Here’s how to get started.