Smile O voluptuous cool-breath’d earth!
Earth of the slumbering and liquid trees!
Earth of departed sunset—earth of the mountains misty-topt!
Earth of the vitreous pour of the full moon just tinged with blue!
Earth of shine and dark mottling the tide of the river!
Earth of the limpid gray of clouds brighter and clearer for my sake!
Far-swooping elbow’d earth—rich apple-blossom’d earth!
Smile, for your lover comes.
(from Song of Myself, by Walt Whitman)
This Sunday follows Earth Day 2022, celebrated each year on April 22. So today I am asking you to consider your personal relationship with our planet. Collectively, we are grappling with the knowledge that the climate of Earth is undergoing a dramatic and life threatening shift of increasing and erratic temperatures, extreme storms and other natural disasters, and disappearing species that have consequences for the human food chain and the ecosystem in general. The road to healing the planet remains full of conflict, with struggles of battling interests, and often bitter negotiations. Yet, there are successful strategies that have already been slowly introduced in society, such as cleaner power plants, local initiatives to monitor and limit pollution and CO2 emissions, developments in the control of methane, new standards for appliance efficiency, improvements in farming, more acceptance of environmental practices in businesses--down to the individual level--and continued international debate in recognition that climate and environmental practices must include global cooperation.
Today though is a day for spiritual consideration, not a day of fear, anger, or hopelessness. We can all remind ourselves and each other that our own lives as individuals are called to see how lifestyles and behaviors affect the natural environment around us, just like they impact the people with whom we live and work. We deepen that understanding when we consider our personal relationship with our planet. There's no one right definition or description of that. For some, we are the "owners" of nature, of Earth--we can use it in any way we want. Unfortunately, with a rigid idea, we easily ignore the problems we create until they become highly dangerous. For some, we are "stewards" given the tasks to care for the natural world and learn what that means in various contexts. For still others, we are aliens to earth; we belong somewhere else in the cosmos or we look to a new location in some science fiction alternative that space travel may provide. Philosopher Alan Watts said, “We do not come into this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean waves, the universe peoples. Every individual is an expression of the whole realm of nature, a unique action of the total universe." For Walt Whitman, well, he was a lover of Earth.
Spend a little time today away from the human-made environment, if only by traveling in your imagination, and consider your personal relationship to Earth. What does that relationship require of you and what does the Earth give back? (Susan Nettleton)
For a poetic perspective from Larry Morris' book "On This Sweet Earth", follow the link: