A Pollinator of Love

I love being outside in the wild, listening to the gift of birds singing, the rush of water over rocks and fallen logs in a wooded creek. My proclivity towards spending time in nature has resulted in being homeless, squatting in a tent, more than once.

I’ve had to learn to scrape by, at times living simply off of what I could forage in the wild, berries and such. I’ve never gone hungry and have often experienced the generosity of others when in need.

These experiences have taught me valuable lessons, like the importance of honoring all life as sacred, including the dirty bum outside hiding from the cold in layers of clothing.

A few weeks back, while working a construction job in Phoenix I decided to treat myself to a Starbucks coffee. It was a cold morning in the desert and I walked briskly to stay warm. As I rounded the corner and approached the nearby Starbucks I encountered a man waking up on the patio where he had obviously spent the night.

I was shocked that he hadn’t been asked to leave. I nodded good morning and he did the same as I walked passed and into the store.

I waited in line and watched the morning rush flow in and out the door as people collected their online orders. When my turn to order arrived I was reflecting on how grateful I was for the job I had and the abundance I had been given. So I placed an order for two Grande coffees as an act of simple celebration.

Exiting the store a few minutes later I encountered the man again, this time he was waiting with a bird friend, a grackle. The bird seemed to be his companion and mimicked his joy with a loud call as I handed this man his cup of coffee.

The warmth of his gratitude and the light in his eyes reminded me of the deeper flow of currency that moves in and out of our lives. The currency of love.

Poverty is a mentality, a mentality that we reinforce when we refuse to act on an opportunity to show love to those in need.

The moment I offered that dirty bum a hot cup of coffee the energy in his mind and body shifted. He recognized the spirit of brotherhood in which I offered him the hot drink. He knew that I saw beneath his outer appearance and recognized his inherent sovereignty.

He blessed me in God's name and I did the same. The warmth I received from that simple interaction lives on in me today, long after my Starbucks treat.

In recent years I’ve been intrigued by the idea of the gift economy. There is precedent for it in tribal cultures around the world. Indigenous cultures often hold the ideal that nothing can be owned, all is gift.

This is a radical idea given the state of our current economy and the high price paid in relationships simply to make a buck.

My experience in nature has taught me that generosity and abundance are a foundational principle in the wild. A tree offers the abundance of its nuts to the earth, not only to grow new trees but to feed its furry and feathered friends, who in turn act as planters of the trees to come.

Flowers offer their abundance of nectar and pollen to honey bees who benefit from the nutrients of both. In the very act of collecting pollen the honeybee spreads it by catching it in tiny cups on its hind legs as it buzzes in and out of flowers. The pollen it distributes transforms the flowers of the field into an abundance of fruit and vegetables for you and I to enjoy.

The harmony and balance found in nature’s generosity may seem like a utopia far out of reach, until you offer a hot cup of coffee to someone in need and become a pollinator of love just like the honey bee.