Make Every Day Earth Day
Consider the Lilies of the Field by Christina Rossetti Flowers preach to us if we will hear: The rose saith in the dewy morn: I am most fair; Yet all my loveliness is born Upon a thorn. The poppy saith amid the corn: Let but my scarlet head appear And I am held in scorn; Yet juice of subtle virtue lies Within my cup of curious dyes. The lilies say: Behold how we Preach without words of purity. The violets whisper from the shade Which their own leaves have made: Men scent our fragrance on the air, Yet take no heed Of humble lessons we would read. But not alone the fairest flowers: The merest grass Along the roadside where we pass, Lichen and moss and sturdy weed, Tell of His love who sends the dew, The rain and sunshine too, To nourish one small seed.
Only recently have I been able to listen to and to hear the flowers speak to me for extended periods. It’s always a refreshing and uplifting message. The experience reminds me of childhood adventures on my grandparent’s farm in Ohio, where I would spend hours wandering in the fields and play among the chickens and cows. Those are treasured memories I carry with me.
The only other time I came close to that kind of sublime peacefulness was a couple of years ago when I was very ill. During that liminal space I was too sick to recognize the beauty of the gift; for in my fragile state, I was struggling to merely breathe. When my health was restored I wanted to return to the same routines as quickly as possible. The spell of busyness had not been broken.
Many times I’ve had to remind myself of my vow of simplicity amid the technology of ZOOM, attending church without leaving home, and any number of choices from discussion groups to book studies. Soon there wasn’t time for anything else, I had already forgotten my promise.
So driven by societal norms of going, getting, and doing; it took me a while before I even realized that I wasn’t supposed to do that anymore, that I didn’t have to return to things as usual or the status quo. I had different choices to make and since spending time in nature had proven to be so valuable and healing; it was a message to heed.
As adults, we forget to nurture our spirit in such child-like ways. The gift we give ourselves to just Be without an agenda or additional musings about what to do next provides us with a clear mind, an open heart, and a kinder spirit. It is a place of beauty and peace. That may not seem all that important when life is running smoothly, but, when there is a disturbance whether it be a health crisis, death, or some other loss an awakening occurs, a window of opportunity opens for change. What arises is a time to listen to the lilies in the field.
On Friday, April 23rd we celebrate Earth Day. I’m proposing that we celebrate the earth every day embodied with vitality, gratitude for what we have, and an awareness of all that we bring to this world.
Gerald Manley Hopkins is one of my favorite poets. He sums up my thoughts on taking a pause and acknowledging everything around us, knowing that it all comes from a Divine source. To walk gently is a prayer and a gift I believe we should be attentive to. We can wreck and destroy the earth if we lose our connection to what is essential: life, beauty, and goodness. Intermingled with humanity is nature and the divine.
God's Grandeur by Gerald Manley Hopkins
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared
with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell:
the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright
wings.
In closing is a brief reminder about how quickly this precious in life passes in the grand scheme of Everything.