Wisdom from Mother Earth

Struck by the heartbreaking news of climate change and its effect on wildlife, I recently began to feel powerless. I brought my concerns into a deep meditation, asking the earth herself what we can do. To my surprise, she offered the most beautiful response. Our ‘conversation’ is below.

*******

Dear beloved Mother Earth. You hold us in your embrace every second of every day, pulling us toward you with the forces of gravity. You nurture us. You teach us invaluable lessons while we spend our lives treading over you.

You provide everything we could possibly need. Food that nourishes our bodies. Water to quench our thirst and wash off all that accumulates during the living of life. You surround us with your exquisite natural world of beauty and grace.

We must give back. We can no longer act as spoiled, selfish children.

How can we care for you? Let you know how much we love and cherish and respect you? Great Mother, how do we honor you?

My child. You honor me when you plant seeds. And love and care for them. You honor me when you use my plants for healing. You honor me when you learn the lessons you have come here to learn. You honor me when you love and care for others with a tender heart, asking nothing in return.

You honor me, your mother, by following my example. I create beauty for beauty’s sake. I create life wherever the waters of love flow.

See this. Feel it. Honor it. Taste it. Touch it. KNOW it deep within you.

Help me grow life. Help me nourish life. Help me care for my children. Let none be abandoned. Not the sea creatures, the land creatures, nor the birds of the skies. Please help them, as only you can. Some things are now in your hands my children, and yours alone.

Some time later my heart became heavy again with this same burning question – what more can I do? I felt like I still wasn’t doing enough. So during a more recent meditative journey I turned to the guide known to shamans as Huascar, and posed a similar question. He responded in a most practical way:

Walk your talk. It’s what you DO that matters. Not what you think, feel or say. Only by DOING will you find balance with the earth, will you live in sacred reciprocity with her.

He then handed me a hoe and told me to work the earth. “Plant, grow and harvest the seeds. Dig in the dirt. Create on the earth. Do what you know in your heart is right.”

I’ve been planting and growing food in my garden. Sitting on the earth and praying. We had solar panels installed on our house. As a family we have been trying to reduce our consumption and minimize the packaging of the things we do consume. Teaching our children to minimize waste and appreciate the resources we use. These seem like concrete steps in the right direction. Yet I can’t shake the sense of urgency, the feeling that I must do more and quickly.

So I keep returning to these words. They’re a simple yet potent reminder of our responsibility – not just to conservation and renewable energy – but to the celebration and preservation of life. And to make each day count. To ensure that everything we do is an act of respect and love, toward one another and the earth and her creatures.