2016-2017 Winter | Earth-Love Newsletter
December 2016
STANDING ROCK AND OUR POWER
The Lakota Nation and others gathered at Standing Rock offer us so many great examples: prayerfulness that includes the “other”; peaceful actions; courage coupled with complete determination to stay true to our greater being. Naturally, our hearts go out to support them in multiple ways.
Yet this Great Being, our Mother, needs our love on a daily basis wherever we live and work. Our small acts of loving awareness nourish her and make us Earth Protectors, too.
Responding to November’s Newsletter, Bonny Brooks from Northern California, wrote:
“I loved reading Mary’s sweet story (see below.) Since I am so fortunate to live in a place surrounded by beautiful plants and animals (especially birds), I often find myself unexpectedly spotting a hawk perched on the limb of a tree and usually can’t take my gaze away until he/she jumps off into flight. That is just one example of nature’s stories that I happen upon and always feel the moment take me, which I am so grateful for.
I love the recurring theme in Mary’s story of vulnerability and how she ends with the statement that we are all tiny creatures. Right now with energy swirling around us like a tornado, it helps to connect with our vulnerability and “smallness,” both of which help to keep us humble, open, and loving.”
Lynda Morrissey, in the UK, FaceBooked:
“I am so glad and grateful to be alive on the Earth at this time! In addition to continue to allow space to attend to the feelings of sadness, grief and concern, that the American election result invokes in me, this morning it has also instilled a fire in my belly! A conviction to continue to deepen my spiritual practice, to practice more loving kindness, to work to integrate my own shadows, to increase the compassion and forgiveness in my own heart. And really, to make a stand for what is beautiful, sacred and true. I have never felt so needed to be here, for Love, as I do this morning, we are all so needed. Let us use our energy to be here for Love, to take compassionate action in our daily lives to protect, support and care for the Earth, each other and future generations.”
January 2017
NEW YEAR DESPAIR?
With North Pole temperatures higher than the Bay Area, and photos of suffering polar bear refugees, one might well wonder is it too late for us and the earth?
When the Prophet was asked, “What would you do if you knew the world was to end tomorrow?” he replied, “Plant a tree!” Martin Luther King, Jr., answered, “Plant an apple tree!”
Our small acts of loving awareness towards Earth, and each other, don’t simply counterbalance our collective destructiveness. They open channels and pathways through which this Great Being can release blocked energies and bring back harmony to her own being.
How we are and how we act each day counts!
Carina, from Northern California, contributed:
One of my favorite ways to hang out and be in nature while at home is to spend time with my chickens and my dog, Billy. We have 20 hens that roam freely in a large fenced area surrounded by fruit trees. I go out there everyday to feed them, change their water, collect eggs and just watch them do their thing.
Often, I get to watch Billy and the hens do this kind of parallel play together. Billy is forever looking for gophers, digging holes all over the place. While he’s digging away and dirt is flying everywhere, a group of hens are always hanging out close behind him waiting for him to lift his head out of the hole so they can peck and scratch the ground for any tasty live morsels that might have been dug up in the process! It’s really hilarious to watch.
Another funny thing I sometimes get to witness is Billy stealing fallen eggs from the hen house. I see him coming out with an egg in his mouth and he slowly saunters around the yard looking for just the right place to bury his treasure. Whether he ever digs up the rotten eggs to eat is anyone’s guess!
These little moments always brighten my day and remind me that when I’m willing to slow down and pay attention to what’s happening around me, life is full of playful antics!
Read Fall 2016 << >>Read Spring 2017
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