I love it when I wake up in the morning and there are still embers from the night before in the woodstove. And when I put balls of newspaper on them and then gently blow on them, the embers flare up and paper catches on fire. I don’t need another match to light the morning fire then.
I love living with a woodstove and having the wood from a felled tree warm my hearth through the day and into the evening. This fire in the kitchen, so wonderfully contained by a woodstove warms me far more than the temperature of the home. When I sit in despair or sorrow, the heat from the fire and the golden red licks of flames around the wood remind of me a deeply compassionate planet that is taking care of me. Taking care of us. This is a gorgeous planet that has evolved such amazing plants and animals and trees that die and provide wood for our warmth. I am reminded of all of this when I sit by the fire. It brings me back to a place of hope and deep comfort.
When the embers are still alive in the morning, is it not that Hope is still alive? Is it not that some Greater Being has preserved the potential for warmth and flames in my hearth so I don’t need to go elsewhere to find it? I sit in humility and pray there at the woodstove and feel such gratitude for the magic of the leaves and the trees and the sunlight and the food in my frig, and just being alive on this stunning planet.
I sit in deep gratitude.
Thank you, oh Beautiful Planet of Love and Compassion.
May my breath and my thoughts and work only circle back to support you in your Beauty.
May this be so…
moonmother
Mare Cromwell
