The Earth, and nature is where we live, how we get our food and drink, the air we breathe. She is the ground we stand on. Physically speaking, we are never disconnected from her. We are literally made of the same stuff as the Earth – this is in the Bible, even. (We are made from dust, and to dust we return). We are utterly embraced in Mother Earth’s vast and powerful energy field like a fish is embraced by the ocean.
Since we that inhabit the Earth are all dependent on her and have, in one way or another, a give and take relationship with Nature, it stands to reason that we are linked to each other in a profound way. We share air, for example, with each other, animals, the ocean, trees, etc. We are all part of one large system. The sheer beauty of it is enough to make one speechless. The ecosystem is a scientific fact that I am not qualified to explain adequately; I will leave that to the biologists. Our links to each other, and to nature, are what make us relatives. This is, at least in part, what the Lakota and Cherokee mean when they say Mitakuye Oyasin – We are all related. Much is to be learned from this profound wisdom. I believe the Earth is a Goddess; that she is our mother; we are her children and she loves us unconditionally.
Sadly, we are in a desperate state, on a global scale. Our mother is in need of our cooperation in order to improve her health. The health of the planet reflects the health of it’s inhabitants, and vice versa. We can help our mother by taking care of ourselves, and taking personal responsibility for our impact on the environment. Because of our links to each other and to nature the Earth thrives when we are spiritually healthy. We thrive when we are in sync with the Earth.
I believe that spiritual health is possible without Earth consciousness, but is deeply enhanced with awareness of the planet. One does not need to believe the Earth is our mother, but no one can deny the earth is our home.
