Stories of Kindness from Around the World

[Written by a memeber of our community and I'm sharing it on his behalf. It is the follow up of this story: Compassion Tea and Grandma's Beautiful Hat].

On Mondays, our practice of receptive silence is amplified as our service house enters silence together for the day. On this particular Monday we journeyed to Point Reyes with a couple of community members for a medicine walk and communion with all that is in line with its nature. 

During the trip, we all split up for a while, and I stumbled upon an ephemeral, dreamlike, misted area that smelled of magic. I could hear the trickle of the condensation falling from the trees and feel the fullness of the humidity. Closing my eyes and raising my arms, I could feel the direct ancestral connection flowing from the earth beneath, continuing the circuit, extending out into the heavens. 

After taking a moment to receive the gifts of the Universe, I opened my eyes to see the mist gone and Stinging Nettles everywhere. Wild harvesting and herb gathering being a major project in our house as a means to increase community resilience, I gathered some Nettles, as well as Usnea before continuing to the beach and gathering some sea vegetables.  

Looking out into the boundless ocean and then sitting in open awareness, we felt such a ground in service to the Earth Community, bringing out social justice and growth from within. 

Four days later, after hanging, the nettle leaves were dry as well as some peppermint and more lemon balm that we had picked from the garden on mystic Monday. 

As I was putting the tea into glass mason jars for storage, I noticed three young people - one male in his late 20s, one female who was about 17 and another who was about 15 - looking through the open door from the street, hoping to connect.  
 
Stepping outside with a big smile and hello, greeting them, I approached and was asked to sign a petition against the raising of sales tax in Oakland. Inquiring a little bit more; I heard that this was a part time job of this brother and that the two sisters supported the cause. "Don't you hate when you have to pay that extra change on a bag of chips?" said one sister to the other. 

I signed the petition in connection and was simultaneously thanked by the older sister: 

"We appreciate the support, thank you for the card as well!"  

"What card," I asked; and she answered,

"We live across the street, I am the girl who...was...um...hospitalized a couple of weeks ago."

"Our pleasure," I respond, bursting with joy to connect with our sister from across the street, "Did you get the food as well?"  

"No one told me about any food!" said the brother. "What kind was it?!"

I proceeded to tell him that it was a lentil soup with peppermint, a yellow daal, and peppermint/ lemon balm tea from the backyard herb garden.

"That sounds so good!" he exclaimed, "Someone let me know the next time that there are some group dinners." "Actually," I said," we are gathering together to localize food production starting with this block and we share meals together every Tuesday, do you have interest in growing food?"

"I do," he said, "I have experience building compost bins, windmills, and working in a couple of gardens growing everything from tomatoes to kale, there is nothing like vegetables fresh from the garden."

"I agree", I said.

"How about you sister," I asked the older teen.

"I garden too, we used to do more, but we still have lemon, orange, and avocado trees in the backyard."

"Do you think that fresh fruit and vegetables are more satisfying than the bag of chips," I asked.

"Definitely," said the older sister.

"I don't know," said the younger, finally taking off her headphones and engaging, "I don't like to get my hands dirty."  

I shared with them that we can work together as community to bring back their garden space, and share the harvest with those who do not have. We set the intention together to continue conversation once they finished the petitioning, and we all hugged, harvesting the warm energy of a new connection.  
 
I took a look across the street and envisioned a fenceless block, knowing that real, sustained regeneration is slow and from the inside spreading outward, one heart at a time.  

From seed, life begins beautifully, and continues in that vein. We have assembled these bodies and cultivated this space through the wisdom of our collective soul. We are facilitating the growth of soil and community, the fresh fruits and vegetables are a welcome addition. As we shift into this new paradigm, let us all Farm Freedom, cultivating real social justice from the ground up. :)