A Prayer for Mother Earth

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. ~John Muir, 1913, in L.M. Wolfe, ed., John Muir, John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir, 1938

Last night, as I sat in the meditation circle with my group, I felt the presence of light, of love, of hope. As can only happen in the creative space of my mind, I 'saw' Mother earth, a beautiful, living ball of energy resting peacefully in God's hands. We her children were not so peaceful. We were busy. Very busy. Building. Creating. Burning down. Tearing up. We were doing millions upon millions of things -- and not all of them so beneficial to the one who carries us around the sun, day in , day out.

Mother Earth.

In my mind's eyes I saw us. Harming and abusing our Mother Earth. We her children were acting out in anger and fear. We were waging war. Fighting. Beating, ourselves, each other. We were taking her gifts and destroying our homes and towns and cities and farmlands with our insistence we had the right to take from her what we will, when we wanted because we wanted.

And Mother Earth let us.

It is her way.

Mother Earth does not fight back.

She does not fuss and fidget when we act out, act badly, act beneath ourselves. She does not slap us down, beat us into submission. She does none of those things.

No matter what we do, Mother Earth opens her bosom. No matter what we do, Mother Earth sustains us. She opens herself up to our entreaties. She opens up her fecund belly, giving birth to plants and flowers, rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, mountains and valleys, trees and blades of grass.

Mother Earth opens herself up so we can take what we will, leaving the rest for others to enjoy.

It is in 'the rest' we struggle. It is in 'the rest' we fall. Fall into the habit of taking without giving. Reaping without sowing.

Last night in my meditation circle, I felt Mother Earth's sorrow. We are not killing our planet. We are killing ourselves.

Today is Earth Day. Do something to feed Mother Earth today. Do one thing you've never done before that will nurture the seed of renewal in Mother Earth's belly. Meditate. Walk. Turn off the lights. Eat by candlelight. Plant a tree. Donate to an earth charity. Read the poem below by KiiskeeN'tum- (She Who Remembers), out loud. Read it to a friend. To your dog. Your cat.

Let your energy today be the energy of Love. Light. Peace. Walk through your day creating only ripples of joy, of pleasure, of beauty, of Love.

Create a simple act today to give back to Mother Earth something she needs more than anything else. Our Respect.

Be of gentle heart today. Share your beauty with Mother Earth and thank her for her generosity. She sustains us. Breathes into us. Lifts us up.

Let us give back some of what She has given us.

Nameste

Mother Earth Prayer

Mother Earth hear your child,
As I sit here on your lap of grass,
I listen to the echoes of your voice
In my brother, the Wind,
As he blows from all corners and directions.

The soft and gentle raindrops
are the Tears you cry for your children
Teach me the Lessons you offer:
To nurture my children, as you nurture yours,
To learn the Lessons of the Four Kingdoms,
that make up this World of Physical Things,
and To Learn to Walk the Path chosen so long ago.

Mother Earth, hear your child,
Be a bond between the Worlds of Earth and Spirit.
Let the Winds echo the Knowledge of the Grandfathers.
Who await, unseen, yet visible
if I only turn my eyes to their World.
Let me hear their Voices,
in the Winds that Blow to the East.

From the East: I seek the Lessons of Childhood:
To see with the trusting innocence of a small one,
The Lessons of Spirit, Given in Love by our Creator.
From the South: to Learn the Ways of Questioning:
The Fire and Independence of adolescence,
The Truths, and how they help us Grow along this Path.

From the West: where the Grandfathers
teach us Acceptance of Responsibility
That come during the years of Marriage and Family.
That my own children grow Strong, and True.
From the North: where the Elders, who by their long lives
Have learned and stored Wisdom and Knowledge.
And Learned to Walk in Balance and Harmony
with our Mother, the Earth.

Mother Earth, hear your child.
Hold my hand as I Walk my Path in this World.
Guide me to the Lessons I seek,
bring me closer to Our Creator,
Until I return to the Western Direction,
to once again Enter the World of Spirit,
Where the Sacred Fire Awaits,
and I rejoin the Council of the Elders,
In the Presence of the One Who-Created-All.

KiiskeeN'tum- She Who Remembers