Author: Michael Tino

“May your kindness abound like hydrogen,
Which fuels every star
And is the most plentiful element in the universe.” -Stacey Elza, from “An Elemental Blessing”

What elemental nature fuels your being this week?

“May we feel our interrelatedness with all beings on earth, both human and non-human. May we remember always the belonging that is ours simply because we were born. May we place our faith in the strength of those connections. Blessed be.” -Lindasusan Ulrich, a prayer that accompanies their reflection “Kinship with the World”

How do your connections strengthen you?

“I think this is my favorite thing about seaweed: it feels so much like my neurodiverse brain. One thought jumping to the next, rarely with order or purpose. I’m excited by this, and then, “Ooh, what about that.” Over, and over, and over again. It’s chaos, I imagine, to witness. But inside my head it’s like Ascophyllum nodosum: There is order in that chaos. And it thrives, reaching ever closer to the light.” -Quinn Gormley, from a Braver/Wiser reflection entitled “Intricate Beauty”

How do you experience order in chaos?

Gaia is a living thing. Continental plates move; mountains rise and over the ages erode into the sea, to be born anew; volcanoes spew forth to build and rains fall to erode. Nature lives. Humanity, animals, plants, trees, the soil, and the rock, are all interwoven as one, all a part of Gaia, nature, the Earth; each doing its part in the cycle of Gaia’s life, her birth, death, and rebirth. Each is ageless. Every atom making up all existed in chaos, and each atom is eternal, changing form from one from one being to another — rebirth and death. – Jack Rogers, a CLF member incarcerated in MA

How are you doing your part in the cycles of our living planet?

 

 We are neither separate from, nor above nature, but rather tied intricately to it. To be disrespectful, apathetic, or downright hateful to nature, is the same as to do it to your fellow human. Remember that you are as much a part of nature as it is a part of you and show the proper reverence when you can, teaching it when you must along the way. -Leif Redwolf, a CLF member incarcerated in TX

How can you show respect for nature today?