Author: James A. Pearson

I wonder if you can pause—just for a moment—the emergency of your lifeand step out into the quiet of the world. Hear how gently it conveysthe delicate thread of birdsong,how quickly it can soothethe rupture of a passing jet.Feel its vast, smiling invitationto rest back into the person you’ve been all your life. Listen now–the… Continue reading Worker Bees

The forest closes behind meand now this subtle path at my feetis the red thread between worlds,a path made by the soft stepsof wild things, who are at homein the tangled mystery. But I am new to this way of walking—how the trail flirts and teases,fading and hiding and calling you on;how it disappears and… Continue reading Game Trails

The day after the election was called I went for a walk in the local forest. It was a cold day. Thick clouds had layered the sky since morning. But just before the sun went down it slipped beneath the gray and lit the trees in a beautiful, heatless glow. Something about the whole autumn… Continue reading Where We Are Now

Take back that part of yourselfyou lent to politicians.Peel their slogans from your mouthand pledge your allegianceto the mother down the streetwhose kids have grown outoftheir summer shoes again. And if you’re going to raise a flaglet it be the flag of forgiveness,the flag of our complicityin so much we say we’re against.Under that flag… Continue reading What To Do After Voting

As I watched the wave of COVID-19 build I felt a deep sadness growing in myself. There would be so much suffering. And now that wave has started to break. I have friends who’s livelihoods are threatened. I have acquaintances who are sick and fearing for their lives. I have friends of friends who’ve already… Continue reading A New Practice

In the middle of the road of my life I awoke in a dark wood where the true way was wholly lost. The opening lines of Dante’s Divine Comedy Look how this wildernessswept in around us—while we slept,while we paid the rent,while we ordered another round. By the time we looked upall our paths were… Continue reading Surrounded

Meanwhile Meanwhile the world’s still doing springlike nothing’s happening. There was sunlighton the forest floor today, and the sounds of birds welcoming themselves home to another placethey still belong. My fear found no corroborationin the old growth Douglas firs, who seemed as steady as ever. Not even the swarmsof little hemlocks clawing towards the lightechoed… Continue reading Meanwhile

There are treesin the forest near my homethat hold the world together,their roots marriedto the bones of the earth. The little boy in me knowsthey are eternal,the man I’ve becomehas seen them fallen,their ancient trunks softening,the border between themselves and everythingopening, slowly opening. If only she could tell us nowwhat it is to fall—how would… Continue reading The Day Mary Oliver Died