Sermons

READING ~ from The Atlantic – June 1862 Henry David Thoreau, “Walking”
I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks, — who had a genius, so to speak, for sauntering: which word is beautifully derived “from idle people who roved about the country, ….. ….. For this is the secret of successful sauntering. He who sits still in a house all the time may be the greatest vagrant of all; but the saunterer, in the good sense, is no more vagrant than the meandering river, which is all the while sedulously seeking the shortest course to the sea.
READING ~ from A Walk In The Wood, Meditations on Mindfulness with a Bear Named Pooh. Dr. Joseph Parent and Nancy Parent. Disney Book Group. Kindle Edition. 2018. (pp. 35-36)
Whenever Pooh got up from his Not-Thinking Spot, he liked to spend the next little while taking a Walk in the Wood. He did it in a way that he called Aimless Wandering. It meant walking to nowhere in particular, with no aim of getting somewhere. He’d let his feet lead him, instead of listening to his thinking brain. Another part of Aimless Wandering is what Pooh called Just Noticing. That meant simply being aware of what’s going on, without going on and on about it.

As he got ready to walk, Pooh saw two paths heading into the Wood. He wondered, Which one should I take? Pooh started to feel a bit of strain on his brain, but then he remembered that there was no need for choosing in Aimless Wandering—no right or wrong way to go. What a relief! So, he recited his “Aimless Wandering Poem”:

When I say, “O Bother,”
it’s just cause I’d rather
Choose one or the other
It’s true …..
Wandering without Aim
Is the name of this game,
So that’s what I’m going to do!

He let all the sights and sounds and smells of the forest wash over him like a soft rain shower: the brilliant rainbow of colors; so many curious and captivating sounds; the delightfully intoxicating bouquet of smells; the soft moss underfoot, cool and calming; the autumn breeze, crisp and refreshing.

 
SERMON

Is it possible to live in Maine and not think that the first weeks of Autumn is the most beautiful time of year?  Here we are again, at the turning of the year, surrounded by a beauty that can take our breath away.

Today, … may we simply pause from all the hustle and bustle of starting up another school year, the insane rush toward the mid-term election, the nagging concern about inflation, the lingering worry about Covid and the uncertainty of the approaching winter flu season?

Today ,… may we simply receive with gratitude the wonder of fall colors coating the trees?

Today, … may we delight in the cooler temperatures and the chance to reach for a favorite sweater?

Today, … may we rest from the daily grind and breathe in the deep fresh aroma of Autumn?

Today, … may we remember the simple pleasure of a walk in the wood?

Our lives can become so full of things to do that we neglect our fundamental need for rest from our labors and restoration of our souls.  I’m sure it is the wisdom of Earth herself that places this time of extraordinary natural beauty within the season of slowing down before going into the deep sleep of winter.

Today, I want to invite each of you to spend time among the trees.  If you can walk through the woods, very good.  If you can take a drive to see the colors, very good.  If you can sit by your window and watch closely as leaves turn from green to yellows and reds and oranges before they fall gently to the ground, very good. If you can notice the subtle changes in how the woods smell different between now and the first signs of winter, very good.  Each of us will find our own best way – if we will make room and time for nature to nurture us.

Our teachers for today are Henry David Thoreau and Winnie the Pooh.  They have a few simple guidelines for being among the trees.

From Thoreau, we learn to saunter, to slow down.  To saunter is to be fully present in each step we take and to savor all that we encounter as we walk – deliberately and not hurriedly.  Thoreau was a naturalist.  A naturalist notices all that surrounds her and she learns to see patterns and categories and things that repeat and things that are wholly unique.  When sauntering, there is time and space to notice and in noticing to appreciate.

Of course, Thoreau went on long walks – sometimes very long walks, as his walk through Maine.  He also went on shorter walks – often in places familiar and near-by.  Here it is that we might find him sauntering – close to home and without a need to cover a great distance in a short time.  Sauntering is a walk for it’s own sake.

For us, it might be a familiar walk through Witherle Woods or along Wadsworth Cove or up Blue Hill .. or from the kitchen door to the woodpile or the mailbox.  For those who live in other places, you will know where your familiar places can be found.  You will know where you might spend an afternoon communing with nature – among the trees – for the purpose of doing nothing else.  A walk in the wood restores our soul, our sense of well-being and our connection with the whole of nature.

Winnie the Pooh has a slightly different and equally valuable approach to getting out in nature.  I do hope you are familiar with this wonderful character created by A. A. Milne and illustrated by H. E. Shepard.  Try to get a visual image of Pooh.  A tan colored roundish sort of bear wearing a red shirt and often seen with a jar of honey or his little friend Piglet.  Pooh has a mostly relaxed approach to life – and there is clearly some wisdom being a bit more like Pooh than we often are.

In the reading I shared this morning, Pooh is our meditation guide.  The book is titled  A Walk in the Wood, Meditations on Mindfulness with a Bear Named Pooh by Joseph and Nancy Parent.  So, we learn about mindfulness by going with Winnie the Pooh who is also learning about mindfulness – though he doesn’t call it that.  Pooh knows about things like Not-thinking and Not-doing.

When a person is not thinking and not doing, it’s a good time for a walk in the wood.  I guess Pooh would be walking in the Hundred Acre Wood, but really, we could be walking anywhere.  I suggest a walk in the wood because of the beautiful trees in September and October in New England.  Being among the trees in Autumn is itself a meditation on mindfulness.

Pooh called it Aimless Wandering – walking without a purpose and without a destination. Part of Aimless Wandering is noticing – being aware of everything without thinking about it too much.  Notice. Enjoy. Wander On.

I rather think that Aimless Wandering comes more easily to Pooh than it does to many of us.  We are prone to thinking that we must be doing something and going somewhere – focused on purpose and outcome.

Not Pooh.  This bear understands the joy of simply wandering and noticing beauty.  “He let all the sights and sounds and smells of the forest wash over him like a soft rain shower: the brilliant rainbow of colors; so many curious and captivating sounds; the delightfully intoxicating bouquet of smells; the soft moss underfoot, cool and calming; the autumn breeze, crisp and refreshing.” (A Walk In The Wood, Meditations on Mindfulness with a Bear Named Pooh. Dr. Joseph Parent and Nancy Parent. Disney Book Group. Kindle Edition. 2018, p. 36)

Whether we favor sauntering or aimless wandering, getting out among the trees is good medicine for us.  We need to remember to take our medicine – regularly and often – for our good health – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

We are bombarded with the stuff and nonsense of the world all too often.  Especially, I say, this time of year when the political ads and emails and phone calls can drive us quite mad, the need for the restorative power of nature is immense. If we can slow down and take a walk in the wood as meditation, as prayer, as thanksgiving, as Earth’s gift to each of us, we may begin to practice the arts of sauntering and aimless wandering.  Our hearts will be filled with the love that is creation.

That is all.  The invitation is before you.  The woods, or something like the woods that has the power of nature, are near you.  Lay down the burdens and cares of the day and go there.  Slowly. And just love the world as it loves you.  You know, in Japan, Forest Bathing is now so popular and so effective that physicians give patients prescriptions for Forest Bathing and folks get work release time to do it.  We don’t need a prescription, we can just do it!

This is the most beautiful time of year in New England – don’t argue with me, you know I’m right.

Let us not miss it.

Let us go out, slowly and let the trees save us.

Blessed Be.   I Love You.   Amen.