This past weekend was an exciting one. It was the very first weekend that the garden room in the Sanctuary was open for course participants and I was fortunate enough to both teach and be part of the experience. It was clear that the Sanctuary team paid loving attention to every detail in making sure that the room was ready, which enhanced the joyful atmosphere that the space provided. At the same time, the sun illuminated the field and all of its beauty, making it the shining star.
My colleague Kathleen and I were delivering the brand new Nature and Healing programme that the Sanctuary and I have been developing and piloting over the last two years. The weekend was filled with the deep and rewarding work of engaging with some of the trickier patterns of our internal landscapes, while being sustained by nature as we allowed the field to envelop and hold us.
Towards the end of the weekend, one of our group members shared an inspiring poem that she felt represented our journey together. The poem highlights the different perspectives we might take to healing. What is more it reminded me of the Hippocratic approach that we explore at the beginning of the Nature and Healing programme. Hippocrates, the man considered to be the father of modern medicine, taught that doctors were simply the servants of nature. Their job was to help create the conditions that allow the body and nature to do what they are designed to do when everything is in balance: heal.
The poem the participant shared is written by Rachel Naomi Remen and goes as such:
Helping, fixing and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul.
Service rests on the premise that the nature of life is sacred, that life is a holy mystery which has an unknown purpose. When we serve, we know that we belong to life and to that purpose. From the perspective of service, we are all connected: All suffering is like my suffering and all joy is like my joy. The impulse to serve emerges naturally and inevitably from this way of seeing.
When I heard these words I felt inspired, and if I am honest, a little bit relieved. To be in service feels much more manageable than being responsible for the act of healing. It also reminds me that each and everyone of us have it within ourselves to heal. Being in service fosters equality and empowers others to find their own way with the support of another.
The question kept rolling in my mind of what might it be like to simply be of service to my fellow community members so that they can remember to touch in with their own wisdom, their own courage, and their own kind hearts? To be in service feels noble and less overwhelming; while at the same time, it reminds me that I am a part of something much bigger than little ol’ Jane.
This also poses the question of how can I be of service to my own healing? What causes and conditions can I put in place so that nature can take its course? There are a whole slew of imaginings forming in my mind. One of which also asks me to be of service to the land that supports me and all those of who I love. What a beautiful reframe.. One that is filled with purpose and meaning.
A deep bow of gratitude to all those who I get to be in service to. For little do they know, they are helping me to grow.
-Jane
If you would like join me this Tuesday morning at 10 am at the Sanctuary’s online community meditation, I would love to see you there:
** Another wonderful link of the idea of being in service is to a conference that James is organizing for the Sanctuary on November 2nd. While the title is yet to be confirmed, the idea of being together in purpose is very much at its heart. Keep an eye out for an announcement on the Sanctuary’s website.
My Silent Place 
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