Earth

As I look out over my garden still sleeping through the last days of winter, I am reminded once again of the beauty and abundance of the earth.  At rest, without the bright array of colorful flowers, my garden reflects Mother Earth’s quiet, accepting wisdom.  She is conserving energy in readiness for the next cycle.  The sun is quieter now and gentler, as it rests on silver branches and a birdbath still thinly iced-over. 

This quiet time offers an opportunity to reflect on the mother of us all and our shared relationship.  Throughout the ages, she has held us in her arms and nurtured us as she shares her unlimited bounty.  With her gentle in and out breaths she has guided us from one season to another, each offering us exactly what is needed.

The evidence of her bounty is everywhere in my everyday world as I watch the transformations in the garden through these seasons.  It’s in creatures of the wild I encounter in my walks through the woods, the songs of the birds as they proclaim their joy to all stopping long enough to listen and in the strength of the delicate snowdrop I witness pushing her way through the last vestiges of snow.

It is hard to believe that I could ever doubt the earth’s loving willingness to share herself with us.  Intuitively, I know that she and we are one, her life force pulsing through our veins and her every call heard by our inner knowing – a call not always heard by our human ears or the senses we have been taught to trust.

Forgetting our oneness, it has often been easy for me, along with others, to fall into fear, losing my faith in the unlimited nature of her abundance.  From this place of fear we have not always treated her or each other with kindness, often accepting her bounty without gratitude or an understanding of the need for balance.

In spite of this, she stands sentinel, lovingly holding our unclaimed fear and waiting patiently as we find our way.

More and more I am recognizing the need to be responsible for my fear – to no longer ask her to hold energies that I alone am responsible for.  With this growing awareness I choose each day to focus on my love and gratitude, giving fear a smaller and smaller inroad.

April 22nd is Earth Day, a day when perhaps our awareness of the need to give back is closer to the surface. I look forward to the opportunity to blend my energies with those of others in a day of celebration and gratitude.  My hope is that we spend the day showering Mother Earth and each other with Love.

Pat Lutz
Managing Editor