Flowers of Awareness
While savoring the beauty of the Ochoco Mountains and Big Summit Prairie, an area renowned for its unparalleled annual wildflower display, we notice a man taking photographs in a meadow filled with white and yellow wyethia. For some unknown reason, I am compelled to speak with him. I discover he and his wife are from Israel and, as we engage in conversation, my heart opens and we have a profound connection. We share a love of nature but more than that, we seem to experience a meeting of minds.
We later share a picnic meal with Aviv and his wife Neva by pooling the food we brought. Enjoying the shade provided by ponderosa trees, we engage in a wide-ranging conversation. Aviv was now an avid wildlife photographer following a career in military intelligence. Neva shares our interest in all forms of metaphysics and a love for the vast array of wildflowers surrounding us. It is a good connection between people living in different socio-political worlds.
While we converse, Aviv’s phone buzzes with an alert about incoming missiles from Hamas, heading straight for the small village where the Israeli couple resides. (I imagine numerous such alerts occurring simultaneously in Gaza, and now, Iran)) Tarn and I are startled. A war on the other side of the globe seems to erupt in this beautiful wildflower meadow. It feels as if the missiles are right here with us; at the very least, the anxiety they evoke affects us all.
War is an unavoidable reality that affects everyone, regardless of their location. It erodes our humanity and causes immense suffering. On this day in the Ochocos, we choose to focus on the beauty surrounding us rather than engaging in discussions about the Middle East conflicts. However, the presence of the alert casts a shadow over the serene scene. Despite this, I will never forget the moment when our new-found human connection seemed to transcend the war’s harsh realities.
…I later recalled Zonker, a character in the comic strip Doonesbury, placing a wildflower in the barrel of a rifle held by troops deployed to suppress a Vietnam War protest. This act invited a sense of serenity into the chaos of the demonstration. There’s a renowned story in Buddhism where the Buddha, instead of delivering a verbal sermon, simply held up a single lotus flower. May we all strive to infuse beauty into our conflicts and restore our sanity.