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Priscilla Stuckey

Reconnecting people with nature through writing and spirituality

Nature :: Spirit

the blog of Priscilla Stuckey

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It’s all mercy

October 14, 2017

What happens when we see ourselves as separate from or a part of nature? The Center for Humans and Nature in Chicago is asking this question. Invited to respond, I found myself remembering a little Mouse and how her life experience challenges all my favorite assumptions about merit and success and who deserves what. We say “life is a gift,” but do we really understand all that implies? The full response is available here.

Early one morning a few autumns ago, when long rays of sun were just beginning to light up the fallen leaves, I glanced out the window to spot a tiny flutter on the ground. Grabbing my binoculars, I found a Mouse foraging in the leaf litter. She burrowed and sniffed, nosing here and there, absorbed in her search. Suddenly she pounced. Now animated, she picked up something in her mouth and ran a short distance away. There she set it down, picked it up again, took a bite or two, scurried off in a different direction, nibbled some more, then scurried to a new spot.

I adjusted the binoculars for a clearer look. She was holding between her paws the striped carcass of a Yellow Jacket. It seemed a prize too precious to eat. Read more . . .

Small brown mouse with bright black eye in brown leaf litter, depending on the mercy of life.

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Tagged With: connecting with nature, deserving, effort, equality, gift, investment, mercy, merit, reward, sharing, success, survival

 
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About Priscilla

I am a writer and spiritual counselor with a passion for changing the modern story of nature and reconnecting people with the Living Source inside themselves and all of nature. I received a PhD in religious studies from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and have taught graduate-level environmental humanities, feminist studies, critical thinking, and thesis writing at Prescott College in Prescott, AZ, and Naropa University in Boulder, CO.

Nature advocacy started for me years ago in Oakland, where I founded a small nonprofit land trust to preserve a nearby creek. In various places around the American West, I cleaned and restored urban creeks, fed baby birds in wildlife rehab, and cofounded a local rights-of-nature group.

My first book, Kissed by a Fox: And Other Stories of Friendship in Nature (Counterpoint, 2012), won the WILLA Award for Creative Nonfiction. Tamed by a Bear: Coming Home to Nature-Spirit-Self (Counterpoint Press, 2017) is a spiritual memoir of the first year of listening to Spirit’s voice through shamanic-style journeys.

My partner, Tim, and I live on Maui, where we are learning to know the life in the sea.

Reader Interactions

Responses to It’s all mercy

  1. Michael DeLongchamp says:
    October 14, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    Absolutely lovely, Priscilla. Although in trying times it is hard to remember, Bear is right, it is all (and I mean all of it, good or bad) a gift.
    Thanks for reminding me to remain present to this gift of life, as I get too caught up in the daily doings of my life (i.e. the tyranny of the inconsequential.)

    • Priscilla Stuckey says:
      October 14, 2017 at 5:26 pm

      Michael, I like that phrase, “the tyranny of the inconsequential.” Yet in that too we’re all radically equal—all facing our own individual challenges. Another reason that showing mercy is always a good way to go, isn’t it!

  2. Craig Kelsi says:
    January 2, 2018 at 2:52 pm

    Thank you for the “mouse”.
    I found your book, “Kissed by a Fox”.
    It reached out to me at a used book store.
    It elicited many miles traveled, trying to keep my feet on the road ahead of me, while looking over my shoulder.
    Like yourself I took classes at GTU, while working on a goal.
    I too have had the most profound spiritual experiences in nature, most often with animals.
    I am sending this message to say, “Thank you!”
    I will be purchasing, “Tamed by a Bear.”

    • Priscilla Stuckey says:
      January 4, 2018 at 9:27 am

      Hi, Craig, thanks for letting me know the book found you! I hope you enjoy it, and you can always reach me directly through the contact form in the sidebar. Keep connecting with animals and all nature!

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