“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
—Aldo Leopold
How do you experience yourself as being in community with the non-human world?
Most of us are familiar with the image of God in the clouds, sending His rays of glory down to the earth. But one could just as easily find the Holy in the steadfast rocks or the green and growing earth.
Where do you see the Divine?
Many hands working together can push a stalled car out of traffic, pull someone from a cliff to safety or get sand bags in place before the waters rise. But sometimes all we need is hand piled on hand, an expression of solidarity so that we know we are not alone.
How will you offer your hand in help or solidarity today?
At a terrifying height, in the midst of breathtaking beauty, the glider hangs calmly suspended, as if the fragile perch could as easily be a porch swing or a desk chair. In moments of true balance, both life’s terror and its beauty are simply facts, like feeling the rush of wind or the warmth of the sun.
How will you find balance in the terror and the beauty of your day?
On Simchat Torah, the celebration of the completion of the yearly cycle of reading from the Torah, Jews march and dance around the synagogue carrying the Torah scroll. And then, as part of the joyful celebration, they start the cycle of reading over again: B’reshit…In the beginning…
What is ending in your life? How might that ending bring a joyful beginning?
