THE FOUR SACRED THINGS
The Earth is a living, conscious being. In company with cultures of many different times and places, we name these things as sacred:
EARTH AIR FIRE WATER
Whether we see them as the breath, body and blood of the Mother, or as the blessed gifts of a creator, or as the interconnected systems that sustain life, we know that nothing can survive without them. To call these things sacred is to say they have a value beyond their usefulness for human ends, that they themselves become the standards by which our acts, our economies, our laws and our purposes must be judged. No one has the right to appropriate them or profit from them at the expense of others.
Any government that fails to protect them forfeits its legitimacy. All people, all living things are part of the earth life, and so are sacred.
No one of us stands any higher or lower than any other. Only justice can assure balance. Only ecological balance can sustain freedom. Only in freedom can that fifth sacred thing that we call Spirit flourish in its full diversity.
To honor the sacred is to create conditions in which nourishment, sustenance, habitat, knowledge, freedom and beauty can thrive.
To honor the sacred is to make love possible.
To this we dedicate our curiosity, our will, our courage, our silences and our voices.
To this we dedicate our lives.
Earth's direction is North; its power is Mother Earth.
Air's direction is East; its power is invention.
Fire's direction is South; its power is feeling.
Water's direction is West; its power is intuition.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves...who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just within some of us, it's in everyone. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fears, our presence automatically liberates others. "*
*Nelson Mandela
Get out in nature as often as you possibly can, alone if you're comfortable with that, or with a friend who can appreciate it as you do.
The forest, the mountains, the sea, streams, lakes, meadows, rocks, plant life, wild life and deserts are the real world.
Enjoy it for what it is, and return what you take. Enjoy it for all that it is, give thanks and be happy while we still have nature.
