I first became conscious of this truth by way of cosmologist/physicist Brian Thomas Swimme. He noted this connectivity particularly in video two of his old and germinal series Canticle to the Cosmos; and in part of that teaching, he held up an apple as an example of the whole universe involved in one bite of it (hmm what story does that remind many of us of). That whole series and any other of Swimme’s videos, taught me of the seamless connection of every thing, all the way back to Origins – the uncut thread within any thing.

So, often when I am eating, I reflect on what and who was involved in each item that is part of the meal, each item that I am consuming and enjoying the benefit of; and I give thanks for the people, their work and passion to create this, and to sustain themselves and the world in general. It usually begins with the farmers/people who grew the raw material and harvested it, then the people who transported it, the people involved in any processing (such as making tahini out of the sesame seeds), any further transport and getting it to market, and all the roads and vehicles, manufacture and people involved in that – just for any one and each ingredient in the food on my plate. There is also the domestication of the plants or animals involved; that happened over eons – the human and Earth working out this relationship over expanses of time.

Then there is the soil it grew in, and what that took to create through the ages; and the water – recycled since the earliest of times of our Planet Earth, and Her birth also from the grandmother supernova. The thread has not been cut – I consume it all. It is communion – everyday communion with the unfolding of it all.

It is a seamless multi-string thread, a weaving, a fabric, in which all on Planet Earth are embedded. It is a Communion with the body of the Mother, whom we may graciously receive with any and every meal.

Image credit for Ixchel (800 C.E. Central America): Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p. 10.