EARTH, clay from which we are made and to which we will return. Soil, rich and aromatic, crumbling in my fingers, dark under my nails. This, cleansing dirt, the natural filter for aquifers, holds life. Once weathered rock and dissolved mineral, now joined with humus, decaying material feeding hungry fungus and bacteria… you are living, made of living organisms and giving us life. Forgive us for treating you… like dirt. Overlooked as we walk over you without a second look. Littered with our discarded cartons and plastic bags. Forgive us our seeping toxins from clever industrial innovations.
Forgive us and accept these seeds…
SEEDS, promise of future life, may you germinate, and live into your full potential. Let your roots feel and follow the Earth’s gravity down and let your green shoots break through to the surface and feel the light. Future plant, thank you. Thank you for converting sunlight into chemical energy that allows life to flourish. Thank you literally for the food we eat.
Thank you and accept this water…
WATER, fundamental compound, we are only a part of your journey… little puddles making mud, cumulonimbus clouds above, glaciers melting over us tower, sprinkling in a springtime shower, the unimaginable expanse of an ocean’s depths, vapor in our dying breath. You are in all of us, in every cell of our being. Water, continue to flow, continue to allow life to grow, continue to quench our thirst, continuing your cycle through the Earth… Transpiration and evaporation, condensation and precipitation. Continue to filter and trickle into streams, finally reaching the sea, only to continue your journey again….
Into the air…
AIR, solution of gases, invisible but felt, held and heard. We feel you as the air pressure changes and the tree’s leaves dance in your wind. We hold you in anticipation… you are our life breath, flowing in and out of us all, oxygen in and carbon dioxide out. Inhale…. exhale. Flowing back and forth, between plant and person, algae and animal. We hear you, Air. You are the conveyance for our encouraging words and uplifting music as your waves vibrate. You surround us and expand throughout our atmosphere, beyond the stratosphere.
Toward our sun…
SUN, little, yellow star, great source of life’s energy. Bringer of light and warmth, Harbinger of the new day as we see you again after another rotation on our axis. Roiling radiant plasma, your solar rays give us hope. Hope for a new tomorrow, hope for warmth after a long winter, hope for light when the future seems dark and so hard to see. Brilliant, giant sun, shine down on our little Earth…
Meditation on Planting
David Snedden