Anyone who is a rock person will take delight in this tribute to them. This glorious article by Patricia Adams Farmer, author of Embracing a Beautiful God appears on the inventive and beautifully visual website www.jesusjazzbuddhism.org, run by Jay McDaniel.

And if you aren't into admiring rocks as a spiritual practice, Farmer's beguiling essay will definitely convince you to try it.

The author and her husband live in a quiet fishing village on the coast of Ecuador. She loves to hunt for treasures on the beaches. Let us count the ways Farmer celebrates rocks:

1. As primordial symbols of eternity (as Carl Jung put it)
2. As a connection with primal people who see in them gods and spirits
3. As the perfect vehicles for the re-enchantment of nature
4. As repositories of the energy of the sun;
5. As comfort and healing during a period of grief
6. As the objects for creative play to bring out the child in us.

Farmer's luminous prose reminded us of the awe-inspiring qualities of rocks and the ways in which they have been our spiritual teachers and guides through the natural world. We love the way they can be so still and present in the moment. We also cherish their patience, letting the forces of nature work them over. Recently, we have come to think of these rocks as metaphors for peace and devotees of simplicity.



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