Our Earth Walk (Literally)
Another of the thoughts that have been
surfacing is how I walk on the earth, literally. Let me elaborate. I worked in an office that was housed in a
trailer. Because it was set on cinder
blocks there is a hollowness to the flooring, which allows footsteps to be
clearly heard. One day I was walking
down a passageway, and someone whose back was turned to me asked, "who is walking
bare footed?" I pointed to my shoes as
she turned around to confirm her hearing observation. I was wearing very flat shoes and my steps
were so light it sounded like someone without shoes. That called up the various individuals that
walk through that trailer daily. There were some persons whose treads are so very heavy they sounded angry. There were others who sounded purposeful, and
with little or no observation one can tell who is walking by the intensity of
the sounds they made as they walked.
Which brought to mind the joke told by
Richard Pryor concerning the two men who were walking through the woods. The first man was walking so heavily that the
snake on the path heard him coming and bit him as he passed. The second man walked so lightly that he saw
the snake on the path and lightly stepped over it. When that story was told it was extremely
funny as Richard acted it out for the audience. Each and everyone of us in
that audience was aware that the truth was being spoken.
Some people walk as if the earth is an enemy to be trampled underfoot. Others walk as though the path on which they are treading contains hot coals. Still others walk with what I like to term respect. The earth lay under our feet by its own choice. Mother Earth is a very powerful entity and could open at any point and encase anyone walking on its surface. We tend to take so much of the all of life for granted, that is only by the grace of God we are here at all.
Some people walk as if the earth is an enemy to be trampled underfoot. Others walk as though the path on which they are treading contains hot coals. Still others walk with what I like to term respect. The earth lay under our feet by its own choice. Mother Earth is a very powerful entity and could open at any point and encase anyone walking on its surface. We tend to take so much of the all of life for granted, that is only by the grace of God we are here at all.
How I walk on the earth is becoming very
important to me. Thus I have been paying attention to how I walk. I do not own the earth. I did not create it,
nor am I able to uncreate it. I am here
by an extreme act of grace. I am privileged to be a self aware being whose Divine gift
is to create as the Creator does.
Therefore, by dint of the gift of
creativity, I am awarded stewardship over the earth.
It is not that the earth is not perfectly capable of taking care of itself, but that humanity and planet earth are on the same path of returning to the Great Creator with lots of experience to share with the entire Universe. Somewhere down the road humanity lost its focus, and with it, its sense of connectedness to the entirety that is life. We have built barriers and hedges around our persons, our "property" and our nations with the sole intention of keeping others out. We are not even thinking those barriers are keeping us in a limited sense of who we are and what we can do. No wonder the god of most religion is so small minded and exclusionary.
Respect for the Earth is a grand beginning to truly knowing ourselves!
It is not that the earth is not perfectly capable of taking care of itself, but that humanity and planet earth are on the same path of returning to the Great Creator with lots of experience to share with the entire Universe. Somewhere down the road humanity lost its focus, and with it, its sense of connectedness to the entirety that is life. We have built barriers and hedges around our persons, our "property" and our nations with the sole intention of keeping others out. We are not even thinking those barriers are keeping us in a limited sense of who we are and what we can do. No wonder the god of most religion is so small minded and exclusionary.
Respect for the Earth is a grand beginning to truly knowing ourselves!
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