Gratitude Over Compote

(written February 28, 2009)

One of my favorite sweet desserts in the winter is a fruit compote, gently simmered until the fruit flesh softens, giving up its juices to blend with spice and syrup for a delicious and comforting ending to a meal. In this case, it consisted of organic apples and pears, raisins, a squeezed lemon, cinnamon, a dash of cloves, and some maple syrup. An added bonus was that it simmered for several hours on an old wood-burning cook stove, absorbing the cozy ambiance of the fire in the retreat space I was enjoying. As I savored the sweet, tart and spicy flavors mingling on my tongue, I found these words of gratitude flowing through my stream of thoughts:

Thank you, oh fruit of the vine
for offering up your life to
sustain mine
Thank you vine
for generously giving
of your harvest
And the trees contributing fruit, blood, bark and flower
Thank you

Thanks be to the Source from which it all comes
And to which we all return

In that moment I touched a deeper place in myself--a place that knows no separation between my body and Mother Earth. We are inextricably connected in this dance of Life...and I, so often numb or distracted in my busyness, miss that connection; a connection that feeds my soul - and, I say, offers the true solution to our planet's current peril. Oh, that I might touch that place more often...