by Robin Jellis
In the beginning there was the Word… I love how collective memory lives deep within us, as the oyster burrows deep beneath the sea. I love how—before we had any other way to record them—stories have been passed down through the generations, spoken in our native languages, each “mother tongue.”
Every couple of years, my birthday falls on Mother’s Day. I learned to sing my Mother’s music before I learned to speak words. My Mom loves to play with words. One of my favorite simple pieces she wrote is this acrostic poem.
The
🌎
is your
OpenYourSelfToEarth’sRiches
As I celebrate another journey around the sun, on this planet from where we all have come, I find myself learning how to speak anew, finding my voice again and to sing without my cello’s bow, fascinated by each syllable other than “do-re-mi.”
I find art within the shape of each written letter, the connecting points turned sideways or upside down (downside up?)… Like star constellations, or notes on a page of music. In our mother’s womb we inherit this collective memory, and we hear into our BE-ing. Then, we listen from the moment we are born. We are each given a name, a call to be here, like the Holy One, I am. And our response is to BE-COME.
A few weeks ago, the Christian tradition of Easter was celebrated in the resurrection of Christ. Last year, I was not yet ready to embrace this rebirth, still mourning things past. This year, I continue to celebrate the season of Easter and Spring anew. As the light returns, another day is born. I sing now and celebrate our home, on the Earth’s turning. Each day the sun rises, as do we. As a dear friend of mine called out: Rise up WOMAN! And, taking my mother’s advice, I’m beginning to riff with my words, like new constellations all scrambled up. I rise, NOW I AM.
Mother Earth. Earth Mother. Wow, Mom! Our birth, each day, our being, is this life, here on Earth, each year, in A-W-E. To my Mom and all our mothers on this Mother’s Day, I offer my love and gratitude.
Robin Jellis has been a professional cellist and music instructor for more than 20 years, performing with the Bangor Symphony, both Maine State and Portland Ballet Orchestras, jazz ensemble Ocean Sol, Medieval ensemble Trobairitz! and for several different musical theater productions. Robin was a featured composer for the Yarmouth Contemporary Music Days in 2011 and has collaborated with several recording artists and poets, including a 2014 tour in Europe. She has been on the faculty at Waynflete School, 317 Main Street Community Music Center, and the Portland Conservatory of Music.
During the summer of 2016, Robin toured the country playing in several National Parks, including a performance for the Centennial celebration. She was beginning to put together her first CD of original music when she was in an auto accident, leaving her unable to do her work www.gofundme.com/robinj. Called to ministry, with a renewed sense of hope and trusting the change of seasons in her life, Robin is a student at the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine. Finding a new way back to music, she is now singing with Ashok Nalamalapu and the ensemble Swan Kirtan: Gate Gate chant. She is also a board member for the Abbey of Hope.
Earth photo: NASA
