Golden Grains

Grains are very special seeds, indeed little golden gems, ripened in the abundance of light and warmth of several seasons. To really appreciate these little treasures we must take a walk in a field of waving young corn, barley, wheat, or oats. Many times during the summer I visit fields of barley and oats to witness the grains turning from green to yellow to golden as blue cornflowers come to bloom in between the stalks. A feeling of awe and admiration fills me as I observe the loveliness of the countryside enveloping the fields in the hot noon sun. It is such a glorious feeling that I clearly sense the fullness of the space and the activity surrounding the grains. In my imagination these activities that I perceive are nature beings whirling above the field, concentrating cosmic light and warmth, packing the starry world into each tiny kernel.

These fields of grains are like fields of sunbeams anchored strongly in the earth. I observe the uprightness of the sturdy stalks and how they unite directly, as in a straight line, with the center of the earth. I become aware of the small clusters of mature grains on top of each stalk, little golden crowns connected to the periphery of the cosmos. I feel my own uprightness grounded firmly in the earth as I strive to unite my thinking with cosmic thoughts.

As I taste the soft, milky, green juices of young spring wheat and later bite into the hardier mature wheat grain, I try to fathom what is happening within these golden treasures. The substances in these ripened grains - the minerals, starches, oils, and proteins - have become the carriers of new life. The processes that produced the minerals abundant in the roots, the starches in the leaves, and the oils in the flower and seed are all present in the mature grains. Together with the most recently fashioned proteins, they form an ideal balance for new life. These substances in the wheat kernels will, when planted in the soil, attract the creative forces outside of themselves. In the future when the wheat begins to sprout, the life forces will manifest once more, grow a new field of wheat and, following the reproduction of fresh new grains, withdraw again. Hidden within the sheath of each grain is an ordered little cosmos of its own, totally independent of its mother plant, capable of producing thousands of new grains in years to come! There is nothing like the wholeness of grains.