Awakening to Wholeness is a series of prompts, reflections, and teachings about how holding the tension of opposites can help us to heal division and experience wholeness. If you feel moved to share your own reflections, we invite you to email us with the subject line “Wisdom of Opposites” or tag us on social media with #EHoPWisdomOfOpposites.
St. Augustine, among other Christian thinkers, is cited to have said that scripture and nature are two volumes in the sacred texts of revelation. Certainly, there are natural world occasions which “speak to” inner world knowing. There are times when a page from the book of nature serves as a symbol, and the visible world reflects something true of the invisible world.
I have noted for a number of years now that certain years or periods of my life feel like a certain season. Times of transition often feel like spring. Times of unknowing tend to feel like winter. I recognize, too, the wisdom I gain in holding two seasons in tension with one another.
For example, both summer and winter teach me about fullness, with both its positive and negative expressions. Summer is full of green and leaves. Winter is full of white and snow (at least for those of us who actually experience four seasons in a year). Summer’s fullness, in excess, can burn when vegetation becomes unbalanced. Winter’s fullness, in excess, can freeze, or paralyze, when snow becomes a blizzard. Summer heat can suffocate and winter cold can tremor. The long light of summer promotes frenzy and activity and growth. The short light of winter promotes quiet and stillness and rest. Both seasons refract fullness, in distinct forms.
Our tangible, concrete, lived experiences imitate and reflect these rhythms. The more we observe of the book of nature, the more we can learn of ourselves. Holding opposite seasons together encourages us to widen our wisdom.
Contemplative Questions
We offer the following questions as prompts to help you reflect on the presence of opposites in your spiritual practice and your life.
- How does the natural world fit into your daily life? How does it fit into your spirituality?
- When have you experienced the transitional energy of springtime or fall? When have you experienced the fullness (both positive and negative) of summer or winter?
- What else has nature had to teach you about yourself or the patterns of your life?
Join the conversation! If you feel moved to share your reflections, we invite you to email us with the subject line “Wisdom of Opposites” or tag us on social media with #EHoPWisdomOfOpposites.
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Christine Luna Munger
Christine Luna Munger, PhD currently serves as the director of the Episcopal House of Prayer. She previously served as Coordinator of the Spiritual Direction Certificate and Professor of Theology at St. Catherine University. She regularly writes, teaches, and leads group prayer sits at EHoP.
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