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?
“When your tongue is silent, you can rest in the silence of the forest. When your imagination is silent, the forest speaks to you, tells you of its unreality and of the Reality of God. But when your mind is silent, then the forest suddenly becomes magnificently real and blazes transparently with the Reality of God.” -Thomas Merton
Spend some time in silence today.
Dear Daily Compass Followers-Apologies for the unintended break the last few days. Thank you for the grace of your patience.
“Listen: There is no earth but this earth and we are its children. The Earth is our home, and there is only one. The ground beneath our feet was millions of years in the making. Each leaf, each blade, each wing, each petal, each hair on the flank of a red fox, each scale on the sturgeon, each mallard feather, each pine needle and fragment of sassafras bark took millions of years to become, and we ourselves are millions of years in the making.” -Aurora Levins Morales, from “Earth Sh’ma,” a reading for Sukkot in her book Rimonim: Ritual Poetry of Jewish Liberation
Breathe and move with intention today, noticing your place among the children of the Earth.
Carl Sagan famously said that we are all made of “star stuff.” All of what we know is made of the same elements that have for an unknowable amount of time combined and collided and exploded and collapsed upon each other.
How are you changed knowing your connection to all that is, including the stars?
“Have you ever taken the time to actually enjoy nature? To just go with the flow and rhythm of nature? Like hiking to a waterfall and then sitting down and watching it, listening to it, feeling its power in the vibrations of the ground. Or took some time to watch a squirrel playing in the park. You can get lost in time. You sit there for a few minutes, then realize that an hour has passed. But the other thing you realize is that your stress level is also much lower. Depression dissipates as a gentle calm takes over. That is when you know that you are one with nature. It’s like getting a hug from the Earth Mother.” -George P, a CLF member incarcerated in TN
Take some time to just enjoy nature wherever you are today.
