Thursday, October 19, 2017

Mother Earth is Speaking

Northern California is experiencing some of the worst wildfires in history. They come just behind devastating hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.  In between those life shattering storms Mexico and Central America were hit with catastrophic earthquakes and then a brutal tropical storm further decimated parts of Costa Rica.  Then just this past week another hurricane hit Ireland. Yes Ireland. 

There have been natural disasters since the beginning of planet earth. But Mama Earth is alive and speaks to us in many ways. It seems recently she is screaming at us.  We need to listen or it will only get worse. Mama Earth needs to be heard, respected and honored.

This is what I try to teach and model to Amara and Havana in regards to this.

1: We Must Walk in Balance on Mother Earth. 

Give Thanks, Amara is practically obsessed with recycling and reusing things but we could reduce our foot prints much further.  The girls superawesome school, Montessori Family School, is 'education for peace' which includes a lot of practicing around those things as well.
We talk a lot about farming and pesticides, animal industries,  fossil fuels etc.  And we always bring our own grocery bags and reusable produce bags.

2: Listen to one's heart and soul.  Always follow the things that feel right in one's heart and in one's gut. And listen to earth when she speaks too.

Amara is not sure if I am serious when I tell her that I can hear a redwood speak to me when I put my heart and ear on its bark. I can. If we all stop and listen we can feel and hear the natural world speaking loud and clear. During these horrendous fires, I heart the earth say she is angry and sad at human beings right now. 

3:  We must value the earth as much as we value our cars and homes and other material possessions.

Money should not be put before caring for the earth. We should not destroy the earth for monetary gains. I try to teach that while money is important, it is more valuable to do what feels right, to follow one's passion and to be kind and loving to the earth and to each other. 

4: We are All Brothers and Sisters.

The flying ones, four  and two legged ones, crawling and swimming ones are also are brothers and sisters. We practice vegetarianism. It's okay to eat meat but as some native brothers I lived with taught me, we must thank those that have died in order to give us life. We must let our non human kin live as naturally and humanely as possible and only take what we need.  In that same regard, the flowers, plants, trees, rocks, sand, air, are also part of our family. We must be kind and walk in balance amongst them.

There are many other things to teach and model, but I think for our family, these are crucial parts of a foundation to walk in balance on Mother Earth. Northern California is burning and this has been the perfect time to be reminded of these things. Our prayers are to all living beings who have been affected and my prayer is that we all start to listen to Mother Earth and live accordingly.





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