Treasuring the Earth

Affirmations:  I treasure our planet Earth and recognize my responsibility to care for it.

Carolyn Tobin was the presenter at A Place for Women to Gather for the program titled, Sacred Time but the topic on which she spoke was broader and deeper than that of time.  I didn't think that was possible but I was wrong and I was immediately enamored with her subject.  She was there to speak about saving the human race, saving the universe and saving ourselves.  I'm ready!  Tell me there's a way to help in this most important work and I shall do my part, although I was very doubtful about what I, one little lady living in the comfort of North Carolina could possibly do that would help save man-kind or woman-kind.  Once again, I was being challenged to rise up and exert whatever power I did have to make a difference in this frightening world of ours.  Is this my Lenten mission?  This same topic of making a difference in the world had appeared numerous times over the last few weeks, actually over the last couple of years.  I am being led to "do more" or at least to "do something."  What was Carolyn offering me that would enable me, no, empower me to heal the world?

This woman was a student of Thomas Berry and she had recently published a book about their conversations, Recovering a Sense of the Sacred.   What philosophy was being promoted?  Is it an approach in which I can be active?  Is it an approach in which I can believe and adopt? Actually, it was even more than that; it was a life lesson for making a shift in my life with the added effect of changing the world.  She and Thomas are calling us to reconnect with the earth, to reconnect with nature.  I was being asked to embrace my roots.  I was being directed to fully embrace our universe by taking the time to appreciate its gifts and to protect them and to reach out and share this approach with anyone and everyone within my life's circle.  So, here I am sharing this philosophy, maybe even better described as a theology, with all the people who read these missives.

Once again my lesson is coming to me in many different forms.  The first was Carolyn's lecture, then I read her delightful, insightful book and within the same week, I had the opportunity to visit the Conservatory in Washington, DC and marvel at the variety of plants our earth provides.  The Conservatory takes you from the early 1800s when plants were first being collected until today and also from the mountain foliage to that of the jungle and tropical.  The first plant we saw when we walked into the greenhouse was a cacao tree.  It took my breath away.  There were these huge yellow pods just hanging off the side of the tree.  They were ready to be harvested and turned into cacao butter and chocolate.  Each turn took us to another miracle: banana trees, fruit trees, ferns and cacti, lovely succulents and gorgeous orchids, every kind of tree and plant imaginable.  I was more aware of the gifts in front of us because of the lecture I had recently attended.

I'm not much of a gardener.  I'm not even too good at houseplants.  I have had gardens over the years, mostly vegetables but I'm a city girl raised on a very busy highway with about eight square feet of lawn in front of our house and a small strip of dirt in the back for the dog to relieve himself.  We never grew anything.  We tried planting watermelon seeds one spring but other than a massive vine, we didn't get any fruit.  As an adult, as the care of the inside of our homes became more demanding, I spent less and less time outside in the dirt.  Now, I was being called to reconnect with the earth.  After Carolyn led us in a guided mediation, she asked us what we believed we could do to make a difference.  I had had a very clear message, "Jean Anne, go outside." I have begun to work out a way to start and to nurture that process.  Why?  What is the message Carolyn is relaying from Thomas?

The only way to save the earth and humankind is to embrace nature.  We are being called not to simply see our world as a place to meet our needs but as a place for which we are responsible and which needs our care and nurturing.  It is time for me to recognize that unless we embrace our universe and all its majesty and miracles, it will not continue to thrive and if it is depleted and not appreciated, our existence will be compromised, if we are not made extinct.  Thomas Berry declared, "As we practice a presence to the natural world through our intuition we come to know ourselves, not simply as physical beings, but as spiritual beings.  We humans are modes of the Divine presence who have forgotten our identity with creation. We are one earth community that lives or dies together.  We depend on the earth to sustain us in body and soul.  We come into relationship to it instead of establishing an identity over and against it."

The rest of this week's lesson came when we entered the Native American Museum in DC.  We began our tour on the fourth floor where several of the larger tribes had been invited to display their heritage.  There were stories about their costumes, their dances and songs and especially about their reverence for Mother Earth: for the plants, the animals, the stars and the wind.  They honored all four of our elements: water, fire, wind and earth.  They not only experienced nature, they treasured it.  They don't just consume it.  Even more important is that their major concern is teaching these lessons to the next generation and letting them know that they were responsible for all their future generations. "How will this decisions affect my seventh generation?" was and is one of their key lessons.

My awareness of God's miracles seen in nature and my responsibility to honor and treasure those gifts, have already begun to blossom.  I am determined to "go outside" more often and to meditate on the stars as well as the weeds.  I will tenderly hold a flower or attentively listen to the bird's song.  I may not be able to care for the whole planet but I am more than capable of caring for my small piece of it here in North Carolina and perhaps by heightening my awareness my tiny steps will make a difference in our universe. I believe that my efforts will have the added gift of not just appreciating our earth, but will lead me to a greater appreciation, perhaps a greater connection to the Divine and to my God.  By learning to treasure the earth, I'll be able to have hope that my seventh generation will not only still be here on this planet and not off living on Mars or a satellite but thriving right here on this amazing planet Earth.