This week I plan to post an agenda of activities for each day, to show my dedication and love for the earth.
1. Watch videos
2. Earth Week petition walk
3. Finish Braiding Sweetgrass
Interfaith Earthkeepers (which I've recently joined) has a page of short environmental videos, and I plan to watch one each morning. Today I watched a news story about how
2. Earth Week petition walk:
Each day on my walk this week I will repeat this prayer of petition:
That the Earth be cared for, I pray.
That we learn to live simply and lightly on the Earth, I pray.
That we stop poisoning the soil and seas, I pray.
That global warming is halted and reversed, I pray.
That protection of the Earth becomes the political priority, I pray.
Amen.
3. Finish Braiding Sweetgrass:
I've been reading this book for several weeks now, and I'm nearing the end, so this week I will give attention to the last chapters, and the questions and themes.
Today I'm reading the chapter called People of Corn, People of Light, which begins with the Mayan story of Creation.
The divine beings imagined a world into existence, populating it with a rich flora and fauna, but they wanted a creature that could tell the story of creation, and praise it. So they made people of mud. But they were ugly and crumbly and melted away in the rain.
Next the gods made good people, nurturers, the man of wood and the woman of the pith of a reed. They were beautiful and clever, and used and filled the world. But their hearts were empty of gratitude.
Once again the gods tried, this time with beings of sunlight. They were dazzling and bright, but so powerful they felt themselves like gods and had to be destroyed.
Finally the creators tried one last time to make creatures of respect and humility. They took two baskets of corn, one yellow, one white, ground them together, mixed the meal with water, and made a people of corn. These were good people, with hearts full of compassion and prayers and gratitude for the earth, which sustained them.
The question is, is this story history or prophecy? Are we still a people of wood, using and abusing? Or of light, in thrall to ourselves?
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