Keeping Vigil: an Act of Supreme Love

Tonight my sweet son got sick right as he was going to bed. My husband and I were both there to help him and tuck him back in. We went to bed soon thereafter, but I could not sleep. Something inside would not let me fall into slumber. On the couch in the living room, I began to pray for his healing and to speed his recovery. Not long after, I heard him get up again. I was there-- right away-- rubbing his back, soothing him. I had been keeping vigil and arrived just in time.
What could be more comforting for a child than knowing that his mother is there for him, keeping a watchful eye over him as he tries to rest? What could aid his full healing more than knowing that his beloved parents are there to support him when he feels so sick?

I once went on a ten-day Deep Ecology retreat in the woods with 150 other seekers. Deep Ecology is a philosophy that teaches us that we are all (humans and non-humans) interconnected in a vast web of life. Deep Ecology is a deep, long-range view of ecology as opposed to short-sighted and shallow views of the environment.  During this extended week of workshops and experiences, one night, we kept a vigil for the earth. About 25 of us chose to stay up all night, talking around a bonfire until the sun rose. At each hour of the night, we would stop and pray for whatever area of the earth was experiencing dawn at that moment. It was a beautiful event, a life transforming moment. Out of all the workshops and discussions and lectures I was a part of that week, I felt this was the most significant episode of them all.

There is something special, vital, critical, yet indescribable about keeping vigil over someone you love. It is an experience worth having, an act of supreme love.

 Penn State students hold a prayer vigil for victims of sexual abuse in November 2011. Over 10,000 people came.

Guerilla Gardening

I almost did guerilla gardening yesterday. Guerilla gardening is putting flowers or plants in surprising or unexpected places, where they show up suddenly without warning. There are guerilla gardening organizations all over the world; people taking over public spaces with a bit of beauty, whimsy, function, and/or food. It is simply one easy and fun way to 'pay it forward' and make this world a better not to mention more aesthetically pleasing place.


To engage in guerilla gardening, you being by coming across an orphaned piece of land, or perhaps some corporate piece of land that could really use some bright pink flowers! Then you need to plan your mission, find some lucky blooms and under cover of dark, or at a minimum with anonymity, go and plant them. Better yet, plant wildflower seeds in spring and watch them transform a small parcel of land. What I love about guerilla gardening is that it does require stealth, occuring often in the light of the moon. Virtually no one needs to know

your good deed, but everyone whose heart is kindled by an unexpectedly tended patch of earth will benefit.

So, I said I almost got to do guerilla gardening yesterday. I walk or drive down a certain road in my neighborhood every day and saw two large flowers that had nothing in them, even though the rest of the neighborhood is teeming with abundant color. I also ran into that particular neighbor that day and she seemed down to me (I might have been projecting here!)  So I went out to the store with a plan to fill those planters on my way home, as long as their car was missing from the driveway. Happily I went and picked out a 6-pack of the brightest flowers I could find. But on the way home, I saw .....the planters had just been planted! Maybe some other neighbor beat me to it. I guess I'll just have to find another spot for my surprise strike!