I am the one whose praise echoes on high.
I adorn all the earth.
I am the breeze that nurtures all things green.
I encourage blossoms to flourish with ripening fruits.
I am led by the by the spirit to feed the purest streams.
I am the rain coming from the dew
that causes the grasses to laugh with the joy of life.
I am the yearning for good.
HILDEGARD OF BINGEN
Isaiah 24.4-5 The Message
The earth turns gaunt and gray,
the world silent and sad,
sky and land lifeless, colorless.
Teach your children
what we have taught our children –
that the earth is our mother.
Whatever befalls the earth
befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.
If men spit upon the ground,
they spit upon themselves.
This we know.
The earth does not belong to us,
we belong to the earth.
This we know.
All things are connected
like the blood which unites one family.
All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the earth
befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.
We did not weave the web of life,
We are merely a strand in it.
Whatever we do to the web,
we do to ourselves . . .
CHIEF SEATTLE
The beauty of the trees,
the softness of the air,
the fragrance of the grass,
speaks to me.
The summit of the mountain,
the thunder of the sky,
the rhythm of the sea,
speaks to me.
The faintness of the stars,
the freshness of the morning,
the dewdrop on the flower,
speaks to me.
The strength of fire,
the taste of salmon,
the trail of the sun,
and the life that never goes away,
they speak to me.
And my heart soars.
CHIEF DAN GEORGE
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
WENDELL BERRY
O our Mother the Earth, blessed is your name.
Blessed are your fields and forests, your rocks and mountains, your grasses and trees and flowers, and every green and growing thing.
Blessed are your streams and lakes and rivers, the oceans where our life began, and all your waters that sustain our bodies and refresh our souls.
Blessed is the air we breathe, your atmosphere, that surrounds us and binds us to every living thing.
Blessed are all creatures who walk along your surface or swim in your waters or fly through your air, for they are all our relatives.
Blessed are all people who share this planet, for we are all one family, and the same spirit moves through us all.
Blessed is the sun, our day star, bringer of morning and the heat of summer, giver of light and life.
Blessed is the moon, our night lamp, ruler of the tides, protector of all women, and guardian of our dreams.
Blessed are the stars and planets, the time-keepers, who fill our nights with beauty and our hearts with awe.
O Great Spirit whose voice we hear in the wind and whose face we see in the morning sun, blessed is your name.
Help us to remember that you are everywhere, and teach us the way of peace.
HELEN WEAVER
A PRAYER OF GRATITUDE
We rejoice in all life.
We live in all things – all things live in us.
We live by the sun – we move with the stars.
We rejoice in all life.
We eat form the earth – we drink from the rain –
We breathe from the air.
We rejoice in all life.
We share with the creatures –
We have strength through their gifts.
We depend on the forests –
We have knowledge through their secrets.
We rejoice in all life.
We have the privilege of seeing and understanding –
We have the responsibility of caring –
We have the joy of celebrating.
We are full of the grace of creation.
We are graceful, we are grateful, we rejoice in all life.
From God’s One Earth by John C. Schwartz
22:12 
21:14 
19:55 
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11:02 
10:07 
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9:35 
9:12 
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