POEMS FOR THE EARTH

       In December I extended an invitation to share reflections and poems about love for the earth, just after I had written several articles about the earth as a being whose life we share in.  In response, several people were kind enough to send the offerings below:

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LIVING LIGHT

This Earth is Living Light painted over,
A portrait of miraculous majesty - every inch, every centimeter.

She is the essential Mother:
She gives, yet does not count the cost.
She loves, and does not ask for any reward.

The inexpressible beauty of tumbling waterfalls,
Soaring mountain peaks,
Ocean waves surging against placid stretches of sandy shore:
These images of grandeur are woven together within her Soul,
So that every speck of form contains the Living Light that builds the Universe.
Separate, yet Interconnected,
Many, and also One.

Take a handful of soil from any place on Earth.
Hold it in your palm and close your eyes.
You are touching the Soul of this planet.
You are touching the meeting-place of form and formlessness,
Spirit and Matter,
Painter and Masterpiece.
You are touching the Promise of a new tomorrow.

Sweet Earth, I am awed, transfixed by the perfection of your surrender,
Your devotion to the purposes of Light.
May your one-pointedness be an inspiration to all beings

     who strive for greater wholeness.

Amen.

by Matthew

 

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TREES

I hear the wind blowing through the tops of the trees.
The swaying and bowing of their branches
Invites me, calling me to listen…

Silently they speak to me,
“There is more, so much more.”

Their knowing presence always welcomes me
As they stand firm, majestic, gifting me
With more, so much more.

Their quiet wisdom teaches me of:
Strength, Comfort, Protection,
Warmth, Beauty, Giving,
Renewal, Love, Life…

It is my turn to bow to them.

 

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PRAYER FOR THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

May God in His infinite wisdom, love, and forgiveness bless all creatures of the earth - human and non-human - past, present, and future.

May He bring to an end this cycle of cruelty and indifference that the animal kingdom has endured at the hands of those who were entrusted to care for and respect inhabitants of the earth.

May He open the hardened hearts of humans who are asleep to the majesty and innocence of the multitude of non-human beings who inhabit the land, the air, and the sea.

Now, and forever more, Lord, free us all from bondage. Redeem our human souls from the suffering that has ensued from forgetting that we are all from the same divine cloth.

by Adair

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THE REMEMBRANCE - Part I.

We sat atop the mountain singing…
“This pretty planet spinning through space,
        Our Garden
        Our Harbor
        Our Holy Place”…

The voices faded into oneness and in that moment I became the mountain

     and the mountain became me.
No separation existed anymore.
I breathed and felt our Mother Earth as the teacher of truth -

     the remembrance.
I laid my body down on her and felt that all that lies within her, lies within me.
All that exists within me, exists within her.
It felt in that moment that I loved her as a being -

     that I do love her as a being.
When Mother Earth cries out for what has been done here,

I too feel the pain.
But together we rejoice for all that is still beautiful here - all that is still pure.
The remembrance of what was, what still is, and what will be.

 

THE REMEMBRANCE - Part II.

Bowing down with gratitude, I give thanks Oh Mother Earth…

From you I learn about God’s mysteries in the rolling sands of the deserts.
The sun bursts forth and I bask in his brilliance.

The moon takes over and I cleanse in her pure radiant glow.
I lie my body down on your soft earth and feel grounded.

I watch the trees and remember what it feels like to have roots.
I swim in your endless sea, learning about depth, fluidity and spontaneity.

Inhaling and exhaling I breathe your sacred breath

     and send kisses out to fly with the wind,

     dancing with spirits and marveling at the sparkling sky.
I take refuge in the density and moisture of the woods and rainforests.

I burst with inspiration and creativity, expanding in your open lands
I dance naked in your rain and try to play in your snow.
Tiptoeing up to the other creatures,

I ask them to teach me how to befriend them.
I ask the butterflies and birds to teach me to fly.
When I forget, when I get lost, I breath myself unto you.
You come into me through my eyes.
You bring me back to the truth of the wonder and awe of God.

by Corinne

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PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE

There is a time and a reality which is held as a promise in the heart-mind of God and the Higher beings.

It is like a banner that overarches a time that is in our future, the seeds of which are present now.

It is a living breathing document of how mankind will live upon the earth.

These living principles are a reality to which all will have access. They are inherent norms of living in sacredness on the Earth, that all will be able to see and to know, and in relation to which all will be able to act.

It is based on the fundamental freedom of being, and responsibility for the sacredness of the gift that is that freedom.

Its foundation is the stewardship of all that is given by God, in the highest actions, thoughts, and words here on the earth, for the purposes of the evolution of consciousness and love.

Its direction is the continuing evolution of and sanctification of the physical plane of being, through our inhabitation of sacredness within form, and through reverence for the sacredness of life that is the Origin of the light of consciousness and love in all beings.

Respect for and awareness of the sacredness of all life is integral to this reality-to-be, and is its hallmark.

Its beginnings can be felt now in the hints we can feel in our evolving consciousness of the reality that upholds all of life - in the very events within us, between us, and in amongst us as our hearts respond to currents of events in the world.

The advent of this time will come more easily, the more that we allow ourselves to open to the heart-vibration of truth that can sometimes be felt, in new ways, in this time. We must become more conscious, so that we can turn away from the paths that lead toward destruction - recognizing these for what they are in our individual, group, and collective consciousness and actions.

We must choose, to the best of our abilities, to strive for consciousness and for actions that respect all of life, foremost because of the inherent truth and beauty of doing so. And we must choose and strive because of the outcome - for our future and for the generations to come, for all who are connected with the earth, and for the very being the Earth.

For this, great love and devotion, humility and wisdom, are needed. The willingness to listen to that which is greater than ourselves, which is truly of the vibration of love and truth and holiness, is what is needed. This is needed for the planet in this time, and especially now in this country when so many are lost and do not know, and the country drifts and drives away from the moorings of its sacred founding principles, towards the rocks of consequence...

also,

The sky this evening is unusual -
          long thin streamlike clouds - if they are clouds...

                  illumined by the moon, like streamers of light.

by Robert

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TREES

How much you have to teach us, Oh trees both large and small
Striving ever upwards towards the Light, Lord of your souls
Never feeling less than, your neighbors on the hill
You’re just yourselves, and humbly grow to serve and share God’s Will.

Human folly weights you, with gray air and acid rain
Yet your pure and holy life continues shining through your pain
Through spring’s Hope, fall’s Glory, and your winter’s dignity
Your love and Praise for God are beacons calling us to see

We too could shine as precious jewels, in praise of God and Light
If we but learn trees’ steadfastness, and humility towards Life
May we all let go now of envy, fear and greed,
And find the Light within ourselves, and shine it out like trees.

by Lily

 

 

THE SACRED MOMENT

       A new consciousness of time, space, and reality is coming into being, built on the understanding that each moment is alive with meaning, dependent only on how we interact with it.  A corollary of this is the understanding that there is no such thing as an 'ordinary life'.  If life looks ordinary, it is because we are separated from its meaning and significance just as we are separated from our deeper selves.  For it is not the size of the task we are doing that defines significance.  It is the quality of experience that we are having while doing even very ordinary things that imbues the moment with a sense of the sacred.

      So many things seem ordinary and everyday to us - our morning rituals; the repetitive tasks we do at work; the ways of maintaining order in our houses and in our lives; the need to get gas for the car, to make the bed, to buy food.  What could be more ordinary? Think of it, two or three times a day for all the years of our life, we eat meals with regularity.  We brush our teeth - how many times in a lifetime?

      At some point, however, the self begins to feel that the dominant relationship is not with the outer circumstances of life, but with the inner.  Here is where the growth, the learning, and the beauty can happen.  To find these inner circumstances, we need to go deeper into feeling our own unique response to life, and this response must be engendered not from the experience of separation - that is, 'I' as viewer or observer of what is happening, but from the experience of participation - namely, 'I' that holds its identity 'in God'.

      To have an identity 'in God' is to know beyond both reason and feeling that the 'I' that we experience was created.  What an astonishing fact! That we did not create ourselves.  That we are not just a bit of chromosomal material strung together in a beautiful lattice.  When it dawns on the self that the 'I' was created - a great sigh of relief and even of joy can result - because with creation comes purpose, and with purpose comes an understanding that whoever we are, and whatever we do, we have a significant role to play in the interconnected fabric of life. 

     The sense of significance having to do with 'purpose' has nothing to do with ego.  Rather, it is born out of a sense of wonder, gratitude, and devotion - wonder that a 'higher' purpose really exists for us, and devotion expressed as the need to find and fulfill that purpose.  The ego's sense of purpose is entirely different.  It is built out of conditioned thinking and feeling which create a sense of ambition and need, often in order to address or hide the unhealed portions of the self.  To have a sense of purpose is as open as the sky.  It is something to be discovered that we do not own.  For before we knew it was there, it was there.  This awareness can create awe and humility.  For it is God who has created the intertwined purpose which engages our individual and utterly unique self with the totality of the entire universe.  And it is our soul that says "yes" to this engagement, this taking on of the essential aspects of our creation.

    If our human, embodied self accompanies the "yes" of our soul, then we begin to explore life in a new way.  In an open-ended way.  Then, there is a possibility for a sense of infused purpose which can inform everything we do, even the things that might otherwise seem boring.  Think of that - that even 'boring' things can be infused with meaning as we understand within ourselves, why we are doing what we are doing at this particular moment in time and space.

      This 'engagement' with reality becomes a marriage when we can fully say "yes" with our whole self to the Covenant with God which is the underlying reason for Creation.  Within this Covenant, made with the soul, is a promise - that in exchange for the gift of creation and its accompanying expansion of 'self' into the entire spiritual universe, we give, in return, our love, our devotion, and our determination to be as we are meant to be.  We give ourselves to the deepest meaning and purpose of our own existence, in fact, to the very reason for our coming into existence.  Such a marriage allows us to become more than we have ever dreamt of being.  But the seeking must combine the "yes" of the embodied self with the "yes" of the soul, to want to do and to be what God has created us to be.

     With this vow comes the gift of perceiving the sacred - the awakening to the truth that each moment is a moment of Creation, bringing us closer to the goal of recognizing who we are and what we are here to do.  There is, of course, the possibility of rejecting this arrangement, of choosing to go our own separate way without God and without soul-purpose.  Most of us have spent countless lifetimes going down this road toward fame and fortune, toward ego-involved activity, toward power, glamour, and recognition by others.  These roads have taken us into illusion rather than into sacredness.  They have catapulted us onto a roller-coaster ride of happy and sad experiences, often more of the latter, defined by the flow of external events which became the only thing we could see and feel, once the inner flow became more hidden from us.

     In the end, there will come a time of realization for each soul, a time of deep knowing - that whatever meaning we give to ourselves, whatever reality we create for ourselves, is far less than the reality that is 'in God', discovered by going deeper and traveling further in the direction of Divine purpose that lives at our core. Once we become engaged with that reality, there is no part of life that is not significant.   None that is worthy of being thrown away.  There is just moment, after moment, after moment, of learning more about ourselves and our place in the infinite life of the spiritual cosmos.  This is the dance that we do as human beings, and we are both the dancers and the music, bringing our Divine self into the realm of the human, speaking ourselves into embodied existence.