“We don’t escape to nature. Rather, there is no escape from nature; it is within us. We don’t get away to nature. Rather, there is no place to get away from nature; we are forever being drawn into that deep connection.” -James C. Leach
How are you drawn into deep connection with nature?
“Among those few affirmations most central to our existence, one has long been the sense of the sacredness of this planet and its processes, the sacredness of the vastness and order and mystery of the universe, a sense of sacredness of that response in us that is awed or excited or profoundly still or otherwise moved to the core by a glorious sunset or the surf crashing along a beach or a calm mountain lake reflecting autumn-yellow aspens.” -Kenneth Sawyer
What has awed or excited or moved you to the core?
“We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime within [us] is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal one.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
How do you understand your connection to everything in the universe?
Shana Tova Umetukah, a wish for a “good and sweet year,” is a traditional blessing of the Jewish new year of Rosh Hashanah. In this blessing, we are reminded of the possibility of goodness in a world that does not always give us that gift. Perhaps we are also reminded the possibility that we might help make someone else’s existence sweeter.
How can you make the coming year sweeter for others?
Our collective hearts and prayers are with all of those around the world cleaning up the devastation of floodwaters.
“The parallels between the ancient myth of Noah and our real life story today are chilling. In each, it is human wrongdoing, misuse of natural elements and violence that brings the threat of destruction to the earth. In each, the destruction threatens not only the humans who caused it, but also all living creatures. In each, the destruction is to be carried out by means of flood—storms, a deluge of rain, and a powerful rising of waters. And in each, it is only through the actions of imperfect people willing to take responsibility for cleaning up a mess that we did not make that life can be saved.” -Ana Levy-Lyons
How might you help clean up our mess?
