These last couple of months have been a wonderful, exciting and very hopeful time for me. I started the Whole Earth Care Blog on the 5th of October of this year. It was, and continues to be, my attempt to respond to the profound question Dr. Balfour Mount asked all of us who attended the 17th International Congress on Palliative Care in Montreal, last September. Dr. Mount asked us what we were going to do about the present state of our Earth.
What I thought I'd do for this posting is review the hope, purpose, and work of the virtual community of our Whole Earth Care Blog.
The scientific studies, the statistics and the pictures are in. The Earth is dying. We cannot turn our backs on this reality anymore.
I see the polar bear as our Earth's "canary in the mine".
This magnificent creature relies on the ice shelves in the Artic. But, because of global warming, the ice shelves are melting, causing the shelves to recede from the deeper ocean waters, as well as fracture and break off into small ice floats. To feed, these bears must now swim out into the ocean rather than wonder across the ice shelves to catch prey. Many are starving to death or they drown from fatigue, having to swim as much as 100 kilometres from one ice float to another.
Earth is the only home we have. It is because of Earth that we are alive. Earth is our mother. She feeds us, clothes us, shelters us, surrounds us with beauty and companions. We are hers. We are part of the Earth Family.
When we were children, most of us knew this intuitively. We understood the language of Earth. We heard Earth speak to us in the wind, in the fall of snow, the sweetness of a chickadees and the slippery loveliness of a frog. We knew we belonged to this Earth Family. Yet, for some reason, we declared ourselves orphaned. We forgot our mother and our mother tongue. Earth did not abandon us. We abandoned her.
Earth is a tiny blue speck in the suburbs of the Milky Way. And, as far as we know, there is no other place like it in all of the Universe. No other place that has great oceans full of corals, whales, and multi-coloured fishes, great savanna, ancient forests, and steaming jungles teeming with life, butterflies, elephants, hummingbirds and ostriches, donkeys with crosses marking their backs, books, music, dance and Michelangelo's Pieta.Earth is a mystery. The Earth Family is a mystery. We are a mystery, and we are all One.
"The Universe [Earth] is not a collection of objects, but rather a community of subjects" Thomas Berry
Let's not forget the Power of One. Often, when confronted by what may seem like an overwhelming problem - one too big for each one of us to solve alone - we need only to look at how ordinary people, as individuals, have made all the difference.
Terry Fox, Nelson Mendela, Balfour Mount, Mother Teresa, Craig Keilburger and Jean Vanier
I am sure not one of these people ever dreamed they would have such an effect on the way of the world; that they would bring about such healing, such relief of suffering, such hope.
Likewise, I am sure that each one of them would say they could not have made a difference without the support of a committed group of family, friends and complete strangers.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,committed citizens
can change the world.
Indeed, it’s the only thing
that ever does.”
Margaret Mead
Together, you and I, as the Whole Earth Care Virtual Community can take up Dr. Balfour Mount's challenge to respond to the needs of our Mother Earth and, as a multi-talented team, work to alleviate the suffering of our Earth Family, bring about healing and give hope to the future.
A friend and colleague of mine, who works in Palliative Care works with this mantra.
A friend and colleague of mine, who works in Palliative Care works with this mantra.
"I can't care for someone if I don't care about them.
And I can't care about them unless I know them.
And I can't know them unless I'm willing to let them know me.“ M.C. Rilett
We could start working with our Mother Earth and our Earth Family by slightly altering this to:
We can’t care for our Earth Family if we don’t care about our Earth Family.
And we can’t care about our Earth Family if we don’t know our Earth Family.
And we can’t know our Earth Family unless we are willing to let our Earth Family know us.
If I stand by you and if you stand by me, together, we can and will make a difference - for ourselves, for each other, for our children, for our grandchildren, for all future generations of our Earth Family.
In the New Year, the Blog format will change slightly. For two or three posting a month, I will continue with the format used since October, but hopefully, one posting each month, will showcase a Guest Writer with a short "essay" on a specific topic such as Art and The Earth, Eco-psychology, Gleaning, etc. And with another posting each month, I hope to entice you all to share with our Virtual Community, your experiences with the natural world.
In the Beginning
Sometimes simplicity rises
like a blossom of fire
from the white silk of your own skin.
You were there in the beginning
you heard the story, you heard the merciless
and tender words telling you where you had to go.
Exile is never easy and the journey
itself leaves a bitter taste. But then,
when you heard that voice, you had to go.
You couldn't sit by the fire, you couldn't live
so close to the live flame of that compassion
you had to go out in the world and make it your own
so you could come back with
that flame in your voice, saying listen...
this warmth, this unbearable light, this fearful love...
It is all here, it is all here.
David Whyte
I wish you all a happy and loving holiday season and look forward to joining with you in the New Year in our Whole Earth Care Virtual Earth Family Community.
Now, turn up the volume, click on this YouTube Video, get up and DANCE.
Earth Family - First
maureen
P.S.
For those infamous New Year's Resolutions...let's make them famous by using less water, eating locally as much as possible, questioning our consumption needs and taking time each day to simply stop and look around and become aware of our relationship with Earth and our Earth Family.
No comments:
Post a Comment