This Holy Earth by Libby Roderick
In the name of every muscle in our bodies, we beseech you
In the name of the feather, the sun, the mountain, the river, the otter, the salmon, the pine and the stone
In the name of babies, now and forever more, and of lovers, and of sex.
In the name of the breathing, pushing, spreading, decaying, pulsing earth beneath our gills, our roots, our talons, our hooves and our bare skinned feet:
Help us.
Help us easily distracted, heartbreakingly self-centered, brilliant and beautiful big-brained creatures,
Us business-as-usual, new-on-the-planet, slow-moving, deep loving creatures
Help us to remember that this wondrously intelligent orb has generated living art beyond anything we will ever hope to approximate
24 hours a day
For six billion years --
Help us to remember that we can seize the power
That we can raise our voices
That we can flood the courtrooms, the schoolrooms, the boardrooms,
the email, voice mail, letters to the editor, the streets, the banks, the churches and the temples
That we can rise up in power on behalf of all those who live in tree, cave, hive, village, dam, river, ocean, and suburb.
That we can rise up on behalf of all we love and all that keeps us alive.
We beseech you: visible and invisible,
wild and tame, past, present and future.
Have mercy on us human beings.
Help us give birth to the human race.
Although I was tired, crabby, and possessed a headache, I decided to go to my Kjerringsleppets (loosely translated women on the loose) book club at church. I love attending because it is a group of remarkable and intelligent women. After starting with this poem by Libby Roderick, we discussed the book The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. Reactions were mixed, yet everyone agreed on our relationship with the Earth and all living things. Of course I made a few comments, but I also sat back and listened taking notes. Listening to these women I was humbled by the succinct thoughts and appreciative of our common believes.
These were some comments that resonated with me as we discussed our environment and what we as humans have done to it instead of with it.
It's not as it appears.
Our decisions often have many consequences we don't realize.
Like a domino, everything affects everything else.
Imagination is the first thing that needs to happen to change.
We need sensitivity and compassion for the Earth.
We are limited by the brain but not the heart.
My headache didn't necessarily dissipate, but the conversation did add thought to my small brain.
In the name of every muscle in our bodies, we beseech you
In the name of the feather, the sun, the mountain, the river, the otter, the salmon, the pine and the stone
In the name of babies, now and forever more, and of lovers, and of sex.
In the name of the breathing, pushing, spreading, decaying, pulsing earth beneath our gills, our roots, our talons, our hooves and our bare skinned feet:
Help us.
Help us easily distracted, heartbreakingly self-centered, brilliant and beautiful big-brained creatures,
Us business-as-usual, new-on-the-planet, slow-moving, deep loving creatures
Help us to remember that this wondrously intelligent orb has generated living art beyond anything we will ever hope to approximate
24 hours a day
For six billion years --
Help us to remember that we can seize the power
That we can raise our voices
That we can flood the courtrooms, the schoolrooms, the boardrooms,
the email, voice mail, letters to the editor, the streets, the banks, the churches and the temples
That we can rise up in power on behalf of all those who live in tree, cave, hive, village, dam, river, ocean, and suburb.
That we can rise up on behalf of all we love and all that keeps us alive.
We beseech you: visible and invisible,
wild and tame, past, present and future.
Have mercy on us human beings.
Help us give birth to the human race.
Although I was tired, crabby, and possessed a headache, I decided to go to my Kjerringsleppets (loosely translated women on the loose) book club at church. I love attending because it is a group of remarkable and intelligent women. After starting with this poem by Libby Roderick, we discussed the book The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. Reactions were mixed, yet everyone agreed on our relationship with the Earth and all living things. Of course I made a few comments, but I also sat back and listened taking notes. Listening to these women I was humbled by the succinct thoughts and appreciative of our common believes.
These were some comments that resonated with me as we discussed our environment and what we as humans have done to it instead of with it.
It's not as it appears.
Our decisions often have many consequences we don't realize.
Like a domino, everything affects everything else.
Imagination is the first thing that needs to happen to change.
We need sensitivity and compassion for the Earth.
We are limited by the brain but not the heart.
My headache didn't necessarily dissipate, but the conversation did add thought to my small brain.
Comments