Eye - 06 December 2013
From a leaf to its tree...
Letting go
What would an autumn leaf say to its tree? This was one of the questions posed at a recent weekend workshop on ‘Letting go: Steps in the spiritual life’. Jennifer Kavanagh writes: ‘In one of the exercises participants were asked to write a letter as from an autumn leaf to its tree. The papers were shuffled, and everyone took one to respond to as from the tree. Here are some of the results…’
Goodbye tree and thanks for the sap. Thanks
for letting me hang on here enjoying the wind
and the sun and the rain. I remember
back in the spring when the great motor of
the earth kicked into life once more and you drew
up that juice to force me out of that cosy bud.
It was touch and go for a bit but the sun
got me going and made me good and green and
we were off and running into summer. I had
a good vantage point able to look at all
those animals and walkers and activities below.
I’m brown now, a little shrivelled, my
grasp tenuous but still beautiful – when
I let go I’ll be a collage, or leaf mould
or good for striding through when crisp and dry.
Thank you!
Dear leaf,
I hope you will still hang on to receive this.
I was so pleased to hear how much you have made
of your life with me. You have indeed been part of a
great life force. Your life as leaf has run its course,
true and natural. We do not need either of us to be
sad. Wherever and whenever we are, we are in the
cycle, dynamic, full of promise. I will remember
you tenderly throughout the long, bare winter and
when Spring comes. Then I will see your
re-birth in the young leaves, making their
leaf lives. Thankfully, your Tree
Dear Friend Tree,
Skeletons are basic – free of finery. In winter we see the reality and you are beautiful against the bright and eerie light of winter so do not grieve when your last leaf falls.
To a leaf
Thank you for your kind thoughts, they give me strength to face another winter. I would like to say that being clothed in your shimmering beauty has been a joy and a privilege. Go well when you fall.
Dear friend,
The time has come for us to part company.
You created me, you nurtured me, you fed me.
Throughout the springtime I was
able to add to your appearance as I grew
and developed. During the summer we
complemented each other as I became
more mature. Now I have served my
purpose and must move on to become part
of the undergrowth that will feed
you and allow you to repeat this
process in following years.
I am not dying, but moving on.
Dear Friend,
I do not grieve. I long sensed under the
canopy of summer the real me
was scented wood, strongly upholding,
stretching to the sky.
Dear Tree, We have been good together. I have helped sustain you, you have kept me moist in the dry times. I have been a worthy part of your big enterprise. I have learnt from your long experience. I have sought to fit in and play my part faithfully. Now it is time to leave. I feel myself drying up, becoming exhausted. Your energy is falling. You cannot sustain us leaves if you are to survive. I must crinkle up, change colour, redden, becoming more beautiful, and fall at your feet. I must take on a new role. I must dissolve and my parts become parts of the soil that will sustain your roots and next year let you grow new life, new young dazzling lime-green leaves. So I am part of your world and you of mine. Till we meet again, your leaf.
Oh my dear leaf, thank you so much for your gift to me of sustaining life – we have made a good team and I am sorry to see you go. I’m so proud of you, you are so beautiful, turning that lovely shade of green in summer and now that gorgeous russet brown. Be happy to know that come the spring you have helped more leaves live and all is well. Our time has come to say goodbye but you and I will never be apart.
Comments
I am a couple of weeks behind with my reading of the Friend, but I have just found these beautiful contributions very moving. They remind me of a lovely line of Homer (Iliad 6,146): Like that of leaves is a generation of men
By Ian Waller on 23rd December 2013 - 17:23
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