Letters to Mother Earth
In Living Resistance, Kaitlin Curtice encourages readers to write letters to Mother Earth. At the Gathering we joined in this sacred practice. Read some excerpts of the letters below:
A letter of apology written by Jeff Costa
Please accept my deepest apology for how my brothers and sisters ahve treated you since we took our first breath. You have provided us with everything we have ever needed but in return, we have done everything except show you the gratitude and grace you so rightly deserved.
I am truly sorry.
A letter written by Gideon Vaughan
Mother,
Thanks. A word enfleshed in all things we owe to you. Your tenuous blanket envelops all that is and was of our vain, vapid selves. We need the symbiosis, yet we tarnish your abundance. The interconnected nature of all things within your bounds is a lesson unto itself-- on which we are frothing at the mouth to both control, condition, and save through various forces within ourselves. A society of indifference has led to a disposable treatment of the lifeblood and lifemud that abounds within you. We strive to cherish and conserve what is, in our limited scope, the most beautiful and bountiful parts within you. Altogether missing the beauty of every grain of sand, every particle of clay, every drop of water. We knead your soil and minerals into landscapes of pocked and marred creations of our own, hostile to the creations around us. We bilge swamps and bury the histories of your own divine inspiration for the gain of few and the starvation of many. We need your everything to subsist and survive, yet we devour more than what we need from that everything. We do all these things in spite of our capability of a better nature. All for what? Yet you still nurture us all and for this we give you thanks.
Excerpt written by Cheri Baker
Please forgive those harming you. May you continue to nourish and provide. My animals mean the world to us and give Roger a reason to get up one more day. My hens allow me to bless others with fresh eggs. Your waters provide soothing connection. Crops and animals thrive because you provide. May others begin to appreciate you and stop killing you.
A Letter to Mother Earth written by Dr. Anne McIntosh
My dear, beloved Mother Earth,
You represent all that is good with God. God made you before He made us. As I reflect on what I want to share with you, I know that God abides in me and I abide in Him. And that through Him, all things are possible.
God is the Creator and gives us everything we need; the sun, the moon, and you. From you, we have good soil from which plants, trees, and food grows. From you, we have the waters from which the fish live. You are Holy Ground. Wherever God is, that is Holy Ground. You constantly provide for many of our needs.
In the Old Testament, when God identified Himself to Moses through the burning bush, he made clear that the mere presence of God made the ground holy. In the New Testament, Stephen preaching the gospel of Christ reminds us about again about holy ground.
You, Mother Earth, are holy. Steadfast in your work of the seasons, I am reminded of Nancy Allen’s song which truly sings your praises.
… In the bulb, there is a flower
In the seed, an apple tree
In cocoons, a hidden promise
Butterflies will soon be free
… In the cold and snow of winter
There's a spring that waits to be
Unrevealed until its season
Something God alone can see
… There's a song in every silence
Seeking word and melody
There's a dawn in every darkness
Bringing hope to you and me
… From the past will come the future
What it holds, a mystery
Unrevealed until its season
Something God alone can see
… In our end is our beginning
In our time, infinity
In our doubt, there is believing
In our life, eternity
In our death, a resurrection
At the last, a victory
… Unrevealed until its season
Something God alone can see
Like God, you are so forgiving when you, Mother Earth are not loved, valued, respected, and treated holy. Forgive us. May we learn to take better care of you and all of your holy ground. Have mercy on us. I will strive to treat Mother Earth more kindly in my actions and seek to encourage others to do so as well.
Thank you, Mother Earth. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do.
A Letter (a Confession, a Plea) to Mother Earth by Steve Cloniger
Dear Mother Earth,
Remind me …. that I am an Earth Creature, not an Earth Creator. Why is that?
Remind me… that the name we so often use for you is Mother Earth, not Father
Earth. Why is that?
Remind me… that we often speak of the Divine Feminine, not the Divine Masculine.
Why is that?
Remind me that my relationship to you should be that of I-Thou, not I-It (Martin
Buber). Why is that?
Dear Mother Earth, just Remind Me….Please!
Psalm 151, by Chuck Yorks
How long Lord will we ignore your will?
How long will we favor convenience over responsibility?
To value consumption over conservation?
To fail to honor the world we share with you and our community?
We love the earth and what she offers us
Inhabitable and uninhabitable, a home for our ancestors we hope to sustain for our children and theirs
So we ask your understanding while we work on our tasks, to sustain your soul while we do our best to create a better soul. We seek patience Mother.
How long will be pollute? Ignore the “businesses” who gain wealth at your expense? Look the other way when we see the disdain many demonstrate without thought or passion? How long, Mother?
Will we or have we already done irreparable harm? Please tell us you have hope for us as we labor in earnest, rather than in vain, to make our lives more compassionate to you and to our fellow travelers.
We love you Mother. We are sorry we have wronged you and ask your forgiveness for our human frailty and failings because we will fail you again, no doubt.
Take care of yourself as best you can. We are on our way to help.