Mariposa* – a meditation
Mariposa, Spirit of Earth Community!
Beautiful, wild, and free–
You fly with thousands of your brothers and sisters
across continents, waters, mountains, risking all in your migration–
bringing beauty, hope and fertility where you visit–
teaching us awareness and care along the way.
Mariposa, Spirit of freedom!
Your wondrous flight knows no man-made boundaries,
knows only that innate drive to go where you must
to live on and to provide for your kind’s future
without wreaking destruction of others.
You seek the places that welcome you,
and show us new ways of being Earth Community.
Mariposa, Spirit of Community and Cooperation!
Will we learn from you of Earth Community,
the miraculous web of inter-connected life, humans, plants, water, earth, air and sun?
Will we learn the beauty of variety, cooperation, trust, respect —
the wonder of determination, joy, and commitment to a movement beyond ourselves?
Mariposa, Spirit of Gentleness!
How my heart aches for a re-membering, a healing of Earth Community–
for deeper honoring of the Earth by the faithful,
for wholeness and justice in lands damaged by greed, where the poor struggle for life,
for safety and welcome for brothers and sisters risking all to become our neighbors –
for deep listening with brothers and sisters of color already in our midst,
for homes for the homeless and compassion for those in prison.
Mariposa, Spirit of Hope!
Help us to create community, to dream with our neighbors
of sacred welcome without boundaries, violence or fear.
Mariposa, Spirit of Grace and Beauty, Messenger of the Holy One!
May your spirit alight among us and lift our hearts for the sacred work of sanctuary!
By Sylvia Knight
Written at Mercy Farm, Benson, VT
December 6, 2012
* in Spanish, Mariposa means butterfly.