Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver

The response to my first submission call has been gratifying. People are eager to share in the healing process of self and society.

I’ve explored the theme of feeding the Holy in more depth since you first saw the submission guidelines. I wrote the following, which includes credit to Martin Prechtel, who first used the phrase “feed the Holy”.

The name of this literary journal stems from the indigenous teachings of Martin Prechtel, who wrote, “By trying to feed the Holy in Nature the fruit of beauty from the tree of memory of our Indigenous Souls, grown in the composted failures of our past need to conquer, watered by the tears of cultural grief, we might become ancestors worth descending from and possibly grow a place of hope for a time beyond our own.”  (A Goodreads quote from The Unlikely Peace at Cuchumaquic: The Parallel Lives of People as Plants: Keeping the Seeds Alive). 

His website is https://floweringmountain.com/product/the-unlikely-peace-at-cuchumaquic/.

I can relate to what Prechtel teaches about cultural grief and the need to feed the Holy in nature. Our very existence depends on honoring and celebrating our natural world, which offers us balance and bounty. 

From what I observe, we  cope with so much in our lives. Pain has no boundaries. We grieve loss, suffer illness, grapple with decisions, fight for causes, lose battles. We are unable to control all the events affecting our lives. We feel small on this blue marble we call home. We feel unsafe. Powerless, we despair. We fear our fate. We are angry with outcomes. We have lost our center, our connections to nature and thus our spiritual livelihood. Can you relate?

These emotional states can steal our joy and our hope. A few years ago, stressors created despair, and my feelings of despair spiraled out of control, causing moderate depression. Crazy beliefs danced in my head. The thoughts were random and contradictory. They tortured me with criticism and threats. Because I was unable to control my thoughts, they took control of me. They turned off my light, my joy. It was a bleak period in my life, and finding myself again was a long process.

Having experienced this dark period of time, I feel triggered by current events. I feel current social and political thinking to be wonky, like my thoughts were when I was depressed. I feel like I’m observing a mental collapse in our society. I am reliving my case of depression. 

I want to manage my reactions to political and social stressors. It’s crucial to stay centered. If I control my thinking and raging emotions, perhaps I an spread peace rather than rage. It’s crucial to love and love fiercely. Build community. Be a beacon. Anger and disappointment are signs of grief. I need to be gentle with myself and others as I move through the grief. Burying the concerns isn’t healthy. I can’t turn my head or reframe someone’s faulty thinking. I can only monitor my own thinking.

What it comes down to is to “feed the holy”. In addition to what Martin Prechtel teaches, feeding the holy me involves doing what brings me joy. I found an excellent blog post by Jamie Wheal, “Are You Feeding the Holy?” (The Flow Genome Project, January 25, 2020) on how to stay sane when the world seems to be falling apart. 

Many of us may be more familiar with the Cherokee parable of the two wolves. Do we feed the wolf of anger or the wolf of joy? The one we feed will prevail.

To feed the holy, I want to restore my spiritual connection to the healing power of nature. I am a part of nature, not apart from her. The joy I seek involves deepening this relationship and celebrating her life force that birthed me. Prechtel’s teachings are deep, but he says that this connection is healing and restorative, even healing depression. 

My routines can also bring happiness. Doing more with my blog and my poetry makes me happy. I love being Editor for MasticadoresUSA and this eZine. Baking brings me joy. I made our bread and breakfast sweets. I cook our meals. I’m a book lover. We like to take country drives at dusk when the deer come out to eat. I keep a log of how many deer we see. I enjoy my quiet mornings. These are just a few things that bring me joy. Joy can be found in the routine things we do. Whatever brings us happiness and joy is holy.

If we feed the holy, we increase our radiance, which will have a positive effect on others. Smiling has a better effect on people than frowning does. 

Just as we celebrate nature, we love ourselves. It isn’t selfish for us to nurture ourselves and to do self-care. If we replenish our spirits, we can spread that joy to others. A dry well cannot quench thirst. Self-care is essential. If I hadn’t taken charge of my recovery from depression, I am not certain what the outcome would have been. My self-care mainly included talk therapy, meds, warm baths, poetry, meditations, and music, in particular instrumental music, chanting, and sound healing. Dr. J. Thompson’s Brainwave Suite and other sound healing albums helped rewire my brain. 

SUBMISSION CALL

What brings you joy? How do you feed the holy in your life or community? How do you spread love and kindness?  How do you nurture your connections to the Holy in nature, as Martin Prechtel teaches? I would like to publish your thoughts so that we can share positive energy and achieve peace of mind and heart.

There is no need to divulge personal traumas, confess, etc. You can explore the topic in a broad way. What is it like to be human in this world? How do we suffer? How do we heal? How does nature heal us? How do we honor nature?

Please email me your submissions: meelosmom@gmail.com. In the Subject line, state FEED THE HOLY SUBMISSION. This is very important because I edit another eZine and don’t want to get the submissions mixed up.

1. Submit poems, personal essays/memoir, or fiction. Include a photo of you and a short bio (50 words or less).

2. No ranting, hate, racism, antisemitism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, or sexually explicit subject matter. No blaming or shaming. We aspire to be a diverse community built on mutual respect.

3. This is not a forum to promote a religion, a political party, or a product. 

4. I will not publish AI-composed writing, only human writing. 

5. Reprints are acceptable. 

6. Please proofread and edit before submitting (This includes the bio).

7. Please pace submissions.

8. Email submissions to meelosmom@gmail.com. Attach a word document to the email.

I look forward to publishing your work! 

Editor Barbara Leonhard (Ms Barbara)