”When I first looked back at the Earth, standing on the Moon, I cried.”
Alan Shepard, Apollo 14 astronaut
This morning John and I woke up, looked out our bedroom window and saw, framed by the drapes, the view we love at this time of year...the spectacular balsam, lupine, and snow-capped mountains... and prepared ourselves for enjoying a special Earth Day.
Seemed like a good prelude to the day to start with a little yoga. Afterwards, I replayed the 4 minute+ video of A Beautiful World. The video is a short segment about the Overview Effect and the astronauts who experienced it. Hard to watch it without feeling some elevating emotion.
Afterwards, I read a poem written by Reverend Steve Garnaas-Holmes from Unfolding Light (shared here with his blessing). And this is where my spirit started to soar and get in sync with the astronauts in A Beautiful World.
Earth Day
We are part of earth, not separate, not foreign.
Earthlings. We are not the whole earth,
but we are not anything else.
Every molecule of our flesh
is from the planet’s dirt and water.
The tides in our veins, the forests in our gut,
our mountains and valleys of bones,
our breathing in and out, all are of the Earth.
The red oak and the white tailed deer,
the water buffalo, the giraffe and the penguin,
the worm and mycelium,
the springs and rivers and the wandering winds,
all embrace us, include us, flow in and out of us.
Here we belong.
And so it is true of God. We belong.
We are not God, or even a great part of God.
But we are nothing else. Godlings.
Made of God, contained in God,
belonging in God. We are God’s microbiome.
God flows in and out of us.
We will never comprehend the Infinite One,
but only know that God is in everything we do.
Our calling, on earth and in God,
is to honor our belonging.
After ingesting that incredible poem, a memory from yesterday touched me more deeply. It was a visit. We - my grandchildren and their friend, knocked on the door of Dr. Ed Meyer.
Before we did this, I told the youth a bit of his story as I knew it. A humble Midwest (Iowa) man. A committed family physician. A man, going on 97 or 98 years of age who has endured both hostility and praise for his deep concern for the environment.
Ask anyone in our little town of Cashmere. They have a story of Dr. Meyer. Out there pulling up noxious weeds…for years…even into his nineties. And he’s been cutting out science clippings about climate change…with little lapse in engagement as far as I can tell even today.
We were delivering packets of wildflower seeds. Dr. Meyer graciously asked us to come inside after we gave him the seeds. Indeed, his table was littered with news clippings. I am pretty sure what they were about.
The kids clearly admired him and thanked him for his years of work and caring for creation. Their reverence for him was obvious as was his delight in these young kids who had stopped by to offer a happy Earth Day token.
As I remembered clicking a picture of them together, something clicked in me today thanks to Pastor Steve’s poem. An awe-filled sort of thought.
Perhaps they were…for a moment…united by their awareness on some deep level…of their common belonging to an ancient home…and somehow experienced the sharing of a Godly microbiome.
And that very idea, my friends, pulls back the curtain, provides an Overview Effect for me on an even more amazing, incredible world and earth... that brings tears and euphoria for me, and I hope for you, today…Happy Earth Day!
How might we take today, Earth Day, to shift perspectives, to open scientific and spiritual and poetic portals, to journey together to the Good Life… all belonging…and honoring our both our heritage as Earthlings and calling as Godlings?
I snapped this pic of John yesterday - still beautiful even before the sun decided to shine in all its glory today