My dear fellow traveler, may you rest a moment – for you have arrived at the Tree of Life, whose shade is here for all who need.

Come, let go of the weight you carry. Sit and nestle into the ancient heft of her.

May you lean on the living strength of the one sprung from the first seed, the deep-rooted nexus of life, surviving and providing, season after season, as the generations wheel into eons.

May you ease into the embrace of these mighty roots and release your weariness, the griefs and nightmares coiled in the clutch of your ligaments. As you rest may you sink with her roots down into the dark rich layers of ancestors past.

May your yearning guide you, as you grope intermingled with the roots of all beings, deep in the embrace of the ground of all being.

May you savor the taste of mineral, the sweet sips of subterranean wellsprings, the heat and force of the fires of existence. May you draw it all up into you, into the strength of your sinews, the fierce pulse of your love, the hot salt of your living, breathing, beautiful body.

May you arise, dear fellow traveler, here in the shade of the Tree of Life. Arise and stretch and reach.

May you grasp the fruit of the healing of the nations. May you take and eat and share.

Amen

– Rev. Nathaniel Mahlberg