The place of beginning

"Many of us in this time have lost the inner substance of our lives
and forgotten to give praise and remember the sacredness of all life.
But in spite of this forgetting, there is still a part of us that is
deep and intimate with the world. We remember it by feel. We experience
it as a murmur in the night, a longing and restlessness that we can't
name, a yearning that tugs at us. For it is only recently, in earth
time, that the severings of the connections between people and land have
taken place. Something in our human blood is still searching for it,
still listening, still remembering. Nicaraguan poet-priest Ernesto
Cardenal wrote, ' We have always wanted something beyond what we
wanted.' I have loved those words, how they speak to the longing place
inside us that seeks to be whole and connected to the earth. This too is
the place of beginning, the source of our living."

- Linda Hogan (Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World)

"Watch young children outdoors. It’s very rare to find a young child who
is not enthusiastically curious about the life around him, whatever form
that life takes. I was just with my two-year-old grandson this past
weekend. A stroll around the yard with him takes a while. He points to a
butterfly with great excitement and wants the name and tries to repeat
it. He brings a very tiny golden-bronze seed to me to hold and keep. And
treasure. 'Bug' was one of his first words. He can watch a trail of
ants with an enduring focus. 'Moon' was an early word for my sons and my
grandsons, too. The sight of the moon always occasioned joy and rapt
attention. And dandelions, even to my five-year-old grandsons, are
amazing and beautiful. And they are right to be so amazed. The life
forms on our earth are amazing to children, and they remain amazing for
many adults. The more we learn about them the more amazing and
mysterious they become. The same is true for all the stars and cosmic
bodies existing in the heavens. The universe is overflowing with
passion. For my own sake, I try with words to tap into that passion,
that intense will-to-be, the tight hold against oblivion, the yes-power
existing within all the manifestations of light."