And so it goes. Every spring, after the first rains soak the fertile ground and the glorious sun warms the soil, my tummy begins to savor the thought of fresh morel mushrooms. Even more, my heart yearns for "mushroom day" - my annual pilgrimage into the wilds of our timber to hunt these illusive fungi.
I love this day! I love the adventure of the search - climbing up and down hills and over fallen trees, using a stick to clear leaves and debris away. I love spotting dead elm trees, and the racing heart that comes with knowing this is a favorite spot for morels. I search high and I search low. And you know what? I've never found a mushroom in the timber. Not once.
My "morel quest" reminds me of my favorite book, God In Between by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso. It is a story of wiseones living in a remote village. The villagers want to find God, so they send the wiseones out into the world to search. The wiseones, like me in my quest for morels, search high and low in their quest for God. Of course, they don't find God. They come home, defeated. The villagers are irate, and the world looks bleak until the wiseones explain that although they couldn't find God in all of the exotic places they searched, they found God in the between - the space between each person in relationship - right in their village.
Well, guess what happened with me and the quest for morels this spring? I found some - nine of them, to be exact - right in the mulch in our garden!
Like the wiseones in God In Between, and mushroom hunters everywhere, I spend enormous energy on my quests. Spiritually, my quest leads me to books, classes, programs, workshops.... you name it, I've done it! Sometimes, though, I forget that God is right here, like the prized morels - waiting for me in the mundane mulch of life.
Sometimes, we just have to slow down, that's all. We just need to open our senses and our hearts to all that is happening around us, and the presence of God in our lives and relationships.
With the lilacs in full bloom, the ferns at their lushest, and every living
thing leaping towards the light of the sun, it is a wonderful time to retreat here at Soul of the Prairie. The prairie plants are resurrecting into life after the fire, and the nights are crisp and clear for labyrinth walking. Please consider gifting yourself and friends with retreat time this season. Our website, www.souloftheprairie.com has lots of photos and information. See you there!
--mary