“Earthiness”
I sat to meditate the other day in my quiet room upstairs, facing the window to the back yard. Directly across from me stands the open-hearted birch, at least that’s how I refer to it. Visible only when the leaves are not out, one of its branches curves up and around and down, then quickly up and around and down again reaching toward the main trunk, not quite closing the gap. It is the shape of an open heart, welcoming me into its embrace. Casting my gaze downward to the altar table before me, a vase of daffodils so full of color greets me. One is all white with a ruffled white cone at the center. I focus on that spot that seems to go on forever, a hint of green the further it goes. I close my eyes and breathe, and for an instant I am one with that bloom and by extension all the rest beyond the confines of my home. I know myself as part of the earth and it as a part of me.
In our reading this morning from Thich Nhat Hanh’s Love Letters to the Earth, he speaks to our planet as Mother, speaks of the deep connection between all of his activities and hers. And his wish is to be awakened in such a way that this awareness is with him at all times, and in all places. To know oneself as one with the Earth.
Several of you shared your Earth connections with me and I was honored by the invitation into this intimacy you experience. When we think of the Earth, we think sometimes of just the solid ground, and I was reminded that the Earth is made up of water and sky as well. Being in the water and all the sensations – the way it feels and smells and tastes – a sense of total immersion and connection to this fragile home. Childhood memories bubble up – playing in the dirt – make believe baking in the dirt – cookie cutters nearby to form the shapes you shared with friends. Gardening, too, for so many of us is a way to enter into our connections and interdependence with the Earth. Weeding and composting, planting seeds and growing vegetables and the gorgeous blossoms that the Earth gifts us with. Thinning baby carrots – real baby carrots – brushing off the soil and popping them in your mouth; these sweet treats adding joy to the work. Rooting out the weeds as good therapy and a good metaphor for rooting out the world’s problems, making space for goodness to grow.
Thich Nhat Hanh says elsewhere that “when we suffer, the Earth embraces us, accepts us, and restores our energy, making us strong and stable again. The relief that we seek is right under our feet.” For one of you this became apparent as you gazed up at the sky, a feeling of groundedness and support, of safety enough to wonder into the great beyond. But he speaks here of mutuality and reciprocity, we give to the Earth and in turn we receive what we need. Not the other way around necessarily – giving the priority – we can learn from the Earth whose generosity seems unbounded. Can we begin from this place?
We have talked before about this concept and the work and writings of indigenous biologist Robin Wall-Kimmerer. She shares about the formation of lichens, about scientists trying to force this connection of algae and fungus in a petri dish, which just didn’t work. They did their best to create the perfect conditions, but nope, no lichens. It wasn’t until the conditions became harsh and stressful that the two began to turn to each other, to cooperate. When life becomes tenuous, in times of scarcity, we turn to reciprocity to keep us on track. This lichen experiment, a marvelous metaphor for humanity to take a lesson from. How individualistic do we need to become before the wheel turns?
This past week was Earth Day and Arbor Day, too! Days we set aside to recall our connections to our planet, to the trees and their good contributions to life. And we dial in to the state of the Earth, more so as time passes and our dear Gaia cries out more and more. We’re good for a week or two, maybe a month and then back we go about our business. And I want to know why this annual ritual isn’t more of our business. I arrived at the 100th day of the Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth from Randy Woodley this week who reminds us that we are part of the community of creation. He calls for respect for all of life and harmonious living with people and nature, for equality of voice and I think here about listening to the voice of our Earth home. He talks about generosity and lastly, accountability.
Going back to our opening inspired by Joseph Campbell, I am invited to consider myself as arising out of the Earth instead of being plopped down on it. To be its eyes and ears and consciousness and voice. And when I think of it that way, I wonder why we don’t take better care of it all. When we are unwell in our physical bodies, we get ourselves to a healthcare provider to find out what is amiss and how to heal. We know how to heal this earthen part of ourselves, but we linger as if it wasn’t a piece of a whole, as if we weren’t pieces of a whole. This reciprocity can go in different directions – when we are generous and respectful healing happens. When we are not, it does not. We reap what we sow, as the saying goes. Reciprocity.
The Proposed Article II Bylaw revisions say that, “We honor the interdependent web of all existence. With reverence for the great web of life and with humility, we acknowledge our place in it.”
And that, “We covenant to protect Earth and all beings from exploitation . . . create and nurture sustainable relationships of care and respect, mutuality and justice. . . . work to repair harm and damaged relationships.”
Our values speak of honoring and respecting this connection we have to all of humanity, to all of existence. The language calls us to action – protecting, nurturing, consideration of sustainability and responding in kind. Yesterday a group of us from the meeting House participated in the Chatham Town Clean-Up sponsored by the Conservation Fund. A small thing but it was wonderful to see so many people out exercising their interconnectedness to our planet. We heal the world one step at a time, moment by moment.
Perhaps our senses have been dulled by our surroundings, not as much here on this spit of land stretching out into the sea, but the larger ‘we’ of this Earth. As one of you mentioned, we have plenty of asphalt and our veggies come wrapped in plastic so much of the time. We care about our Earth and contribute to healing causes, but this doesn’t always feel like enough. So, I wonder, with you, if it wouldn’t do us all some good to dig into the earth around us, feel the soil between our fingers, dip our toes into the water, spend some time where the air is fresh and breathe it in. I wonder if it wouldn’t be a part of the healing process, this reconnecting, this visceral sense of Oneness enticing us into relationships of accountability and reciprocity on a deeper level that can’t be so easily denied.
One Earth Ritual
Invitation: Some of you may have brought soil – earth – with you today from a place that gives you peace or where you find your power or your joy. A garden – a playground – a hiking trail – a treasured resting place – perhaps the sea. I want to invite you forward to share your dirt with this community by adding it to the planter here on the table. And if you didn’t bring any soil, please come forward anyway and take a little trowel-full of soil from the container and add it in. I will add a scoop for those on zoom. In this way we are all connected to our Earth home.
After the service we will take this planter and the African Daisy down by the Thrift Shop door and plant it as a reminder of our interdependence with this Earth, this UU community and the wider community that enters through these doors all summer.
Earth Sharing and offering our blessings on this earth.
Reminded of our connections to this Earth home we offer gratitude for all it supplies us with – grounding, sustenance, safety.
Blessings on this earth.
We bring these symbols of connection from the places where we know it most deeply, joining them with those of others, we are one in community.
Blessings on this earth.
In our awareness of the intimacy and the reciprocity of our place in this wider ecosystem, we draw inspiration from each breath, from the beauty we see around us, from the feel of earth beneath us and as it passes through our fingers.
Blessings on this earth.
We bless this earth we have gathered and that which holds us through our respect, our generosity and our accountability, vital parts of this community of creation.
Blessings on this earth.
Rev. Tracy Johnson, UUMH Chatham, April 28, 2024
