Everything Flowers From Within Of Self Blessing

Yesterday afternoon I went for a much-needed walk in the woods, Armstrong Woods to be exact. Here in Sonoma County, we’ve already had two decent storms ushering in an early start to the rainy season.

So, as I entered the great quiet of the redwood forest there was a wetness infusing the air and the ground. The bark of the majestic trees was dark with moisture. Droplets of water hung from the ends of the fern fronds. And, in the distance, I could hear the faint trickle of water beginning to flow through the creek bed that would soon be overflowing.

When I walked into the shadows of the redwood canopy, my eyes seemed to play tricks on me as they adjusted to the darkness of the forest. In those moments of adjustment, taking in the darkness around me – dark wood, dark ground, even dark air it seemed – the moss on the trees and rocks appeared to be glowing. This brilliant green presence within the forest darkness struck me the way a neon light stands out on a lonely highway. The moss seemed to be lit from within.

I immediately thought of Galway Kinnell’s poem, Saint Francis and the Sow. It begins like this:

The bud
stands for all things,
even for those things that don’t flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self blessing;

It was as if the early rains had come and awakened the moss to its self-blessing. Now, after the long dry season, the moss was flowering from within and shining its inner light out into the world.

In the poem, Kinnell goes on to say:

though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on the brow
of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing;

The early Autumn showers were like a hand on the brow of the moss, reminding it, retelling it that it is lovely, allowing it to once again, flower, from within, of self-blessing.

We all need that reminder from time to time. We all need a hand on our brow or a word or two reminding us of our loveliness so that we can awaken our self-blessing and flower from within.

What is your rain? What awakens your self-blessing? What can you do today that will encourage the flowering from within of self-blessing?

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Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Inspiration, Poetry