What can we learn from nature?

"At the beginning of my life I received my teachings directly from the natural world. I understood the rhythm of existence through the interplay of light and shadow and the subtle changes of the air and climate. I learned that for every mood there is a corresponding season and that our lives are seamlessly connected to the great life of the earth. When I withdrew in winter and found myself in dark and inaccessible regions, I came to know that darkness is a time for the migration of the soul: I saw then what we hold in common with the roots and seeds-- a stage of mute and invisible growth. My inner changes and emotions were often triggered by the land: I would feel the breakthrough of the spring as the windswept sky and a sudden movement of the clouds brought forth a new round of activity. I would become like the hard, insistent shoots sprouting upward from the earth, and something in me would be heartened and encouraged as I stretched my spirit toward the light. The eruptions of the crocus and daffodil still remind me that in the days ahead I will know the exhilaration of opening that belongs to the buds and flowers. By such observations, we discover that life is not static or fixed; one thing flows into the next, and we are standing in the midst of it wide-eyed and innocent." -anonymous

"No matter how far we go, we are surrounded by members of our sacred family: the plant nations, the animal nations, the nations of the lakes and rivers and swamps and deserts and forests and mountains. As family members do, they help us, and we help them. Some help us with their fruits or flesh. Some help us by providing useful materials. Some provide us with their great healing powers. Some afford us protection. But all of them are made by the Great Mystery, all of them are therefore touched with the divine, all of them have their sacred message to teach us." -Circle of Life: Traditional Teachings of Native American Elders p.9