Eco-Chaplaincy
The Fawn
By Mary Oliver
(From Twelve Moons)
Sunday morning and mellow as precious metal
the church bells rang, but I went
to the woods instead.
A fawn, too new
for fear, rose from the grass
and stood with its spots blazing,
and knowing no way but words,
no trick but music,
I sang to him.
He listened.
His small hooves struck the grass.
Oh what is holiness?
The fawn came closer,
walked to my hands, to my knees.
I did not touch him.
I only sang, and when the doe came back
calling out to him dolefully
and he turned and followed her into the trees,
still I sang,
not knowing how to end such a joyful text,
until far off the bells once more tipped and tumbled
and rang through the morning, announcing
the going forth of the blessed.
Eco-Chaplaincy
I begin with this poem by Mary Oliver because in my opinion it illuminates the essence and heart of an eco-chaplain and may in fact hint at the required disposition in order to act as eco-chaplains for earth today.
“The earth is full of thresholds where beauty awaits the reverent presence”
~ John O’Donohue ~
I began imagining eco-chaplaincy (a term credited to Sarah Vekasi in my understanding) while on a solo wilderness trip to Monastery Mountain in April of 2020. Out there in the deep silence I wondered, “What if I conferred the same attention, openness, and tenderness towards the earth and all the beings that live here, as I aim to do with people who are in crisis or dying in hospice care? What does earth, going through her own crisis, have to say? And what will this enduringly beautiful being convey if I slow down, breathe, lean in, and confess that after all these years, I’m finally ready to listen?”
With these questions I began to go out into the woods alone with an intention to be silent and listen; to apprentice with earth and allow her to teach me how to be an eco-chaplain.
Sometimes I make audio recordings of these places and sometimes I just sit and listen in the dark silence and watch the sun as it starts to rise over a pond or slant through the trees.
Below, you’ll find these lessons from an aspiring eco-chaplain written from my listening trips into the woods alone. fait accompli was my first lesson from wild earth.
