Submission Call: Why Do We Feed the Holy?

FEED THE HOLY isn't about religion.

What does FEED THE HOLY signify for this journal?

The name of this literary journal stems from the indigenous teachings of Martin Prechtel, who wrote, “By trying to feed the Holy in Nature the fruit of beauty from the tree of memory of our Indigenous Souls, grown in the composted failures of our past need to conquer, watered by the tears of cultural grief, we might become ancestors worth descending from and possibly grow a place of hope for a time beyond our own.”  (A Goodreads quote from The Unlikely Peace at Cuchumaquic: The Parallel Lives of People as Plants: Keeping the Seeds Alive). 

Prechtel’s website is https://floweringmountain.com/product/the-unlikely-peace-at-cuchumaquic/.

I can relate to Prechtel's teachings about cultural grief and the need to feed the Holy in nature. Our very existence depends on honoring and celebrating our natural world, which offers us balance and bounty. 

From what I observe, we cope with so much in our lives. Pain has no boundaries. We grieve the loss, suffer an illness, grapple with decisions, fight for causes, and lose battles. We are unable to control all the events affecting our lives. We feel small on this blue marble we call home. We feel unsafe. Powerless, we despair. We fear our fate. We are angry with the outcomes. We have lost our center, our connections to nature, and thus our spiritual livelihood. Can you relate?

These emotional states can steal our joy and our hope. A few years ago, stressors created despair, and my feelings of despair spiraled out of control, causing moderate depression. Crazy beliefs danced in my head. The thoughts were random and contradictory. They tortured me with criticism and threats. Because I could not control my thoughts, they took control of me. They turned off my light, my joy. It was a bleak period in my life, and finding myself again was a long process.

Having experienced this dark period of time, I feel triggered by current events. I feel current social and political thinking to be wonky, like my thoughts were when I was depressed. I feel like I’m observing a mental collapse in our society. I am reliving my case of depression. 

I want to manage my reactions to political and social stressors. It’s crucial to stay centered. If I control my thinking and raging emotions, perhaps I can spread peace rather than rage. It’s crucial to love and love fiercely. Build community. Be a beacon. Anger and disappointment are signs of grief. I need to be gentle with myself and others as I move through the grief. Burying the concerns isn’t healthy. I can’t turn my head or reframe someone’s faulty thinking. I can only monitor my own thinking.

What it comes down to is " feeding the holy.” In addition to what Martin Prechtel teaches, feeding the holy for me involves doing what brings me joy. I found an excellent blog post by Jamie Wheal, “Are You Feeding the Holy?” (The Flow Genome Project, January 25, 2020), on how to stay sane when the world seems to be falling apart. 

Many of us may be more familiar with the Cherokee parable of the two wolves. Do we feed the wolf of anger or the wolf of joy? The one we feed will prevail.

To feed the holy, I want to restore my spiritual connection to the healing power of nature. I am a part of nature, not apart from her. The joy I seek involves deepening this relationship and celebrating the life force that birthed me. Prechtel’s teachings are deep, but he says that this connection is healing and restorative, even healing depression. 

My routines can also bring happiness. Doing more with my blog and my poetry makes me happy. I love being the Editor for MasticadoresUSA and this literary journal. Baking brings me joy. I made our bread and breakfast sweets. I cook our meals. I’m a book lover. We like to take country drives at dusk when the deer come out to eat. I keep a log of how many deer we see. I enjoy my quiet mornings. These are just a few things that bring me joy. Joy can be found in the routine things we do. Whatever brings us happiness and joy is holy.

If we feed the holy, we increase our radiance, which will have a positive effect on others. Smiling has a better effect on people than frowning does. 

Just as we celebrate nature, we love ourselves. It isn’t selfish for us to nurture ourselves and to do self-care. If we replenish our spirits, we can spread that joy to others. A dry well cannot quench thirst. Self-care is essential. If I hadn’t taken charge of my recovery from depression, I am not certain what the outcome would have been. My self-care mainly included talk therapy, meds, warm baths, poetry, meditations, and music, particularly instrumental music, chanting, and sound healing. Dr. J. Thompson’s Brainwave Suite and other sound healing albums helped rewire my brain. 

Please submit to FEED THE HOLY.  What you submit can cover a range of topics related to what you consider sacred. These are fraught times. Share positive energy and help people achieve peace of mind and heart. What brings you joy? How do you feed the holy or sacred in your life or community? How do you nurture love and kindness? What is it like to be human in this world? How and why do we suffer? How and why do we grieve? How do we heal? How do we honor nature? Others? Ourselves? The topic is broad and nuanced.

The Submission Guidelines are HERE. 

Editor Barbara Leonhard (Ms Barbara)

Barbara Leonhard is the author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir and co-author of Too Much Fun to Be Legal. Her poetry has received awards and honors from Well-Versed 2021 and Spillwords Press. She’s a nominee for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Trending Poets named her Poet of the Year 2023. Some of her poems have been translated into Italian, Albanian, and Chinese. Barbara is the Editor for MasticadoresUSA, the Co-Poetry Editor for LatinosUSA-English Edition, and the Editor for her literary journal, FEED THE HOLY. Her blog: Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver.  

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