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We are of the earth and the earth is of us and within both is a pulsing, fiery, illuminating force that propels us forward toward the light of light… We’re the eyes of the earth, her vision and view, we’re her ears, her voice, her love song true we’re her hands, her feet, her knees, her prayer it is to us she turns for tender care. We’re the wild ones tamed by the spiral of time once home in the jungles, the redwoods and pines once led by our instincts, our noses and ears now barely a memory exists of those years when the web of life was easy to see when we knew our connection to spider and tree when the wren sang a song whose meaning was clear when we walked side by side with coyote and deer. In those days we’d take no more than we’d need we’d kill for hunger, but never for greed for life was sacred, the spirit the same in all our relations---both wild and tame. Eagle, hawk, crane, owl, Geese, seabird, waterfowl Tortoise, tiger, mountain goat Elk, moose, antelope Ape, lion, wolf, deer panther, zebra, panda bear Whale, porpoise, shark, eel Bison, ferret, baby seal Their future depends on us holding the past in a way that its wisdom remains in our grasp for all that exists, both tiny and vast relies now on consciousness unsurpassed We’re all one on this planet—the common and rare deserving of life, of water and air Let us choose then what’s good for the wolf and the bear Let our love for the wild be our passion and prayer: O Loving Creator, who art among us, within us and everywhere around us--- blessed be your wonders and the gifts that you bestow. Blessed be the earth, your holy womb from which we rise and shall return Your mountains, valleys, jeweled mines. Your forest ferns and jungle vines Blest be the air we breathe as one the ether from which all has spun sustaining humans, redwoods, hawks all life that flies, that swims, and walks. Blest be the fire that lights our days the candle flame, the raging blaze the light of dawn, the setting sun, the spark of life in everyone. Blest be the springs that rise anew the oceans, lakes, the morning dew the fluids deep within our veins, the winter ice, and summer rains Blest be the canyons, wide and deep the mountain paths and trails so steep Blest be the climb, the brave ascent the pilgrim trudging heaven-bent Blest be the children of the earth our hopes renewed in every birth Blest be the elders who led the way who forged a life with fire and clay Blest be the tundras, the glaciers, the frost Blest be the forests, the trees we’ve lost Blest be all life in danger today, Blest be our choices, blest be our way. Blest be, Creator, our source and our Light Blest be this day, Blest be this night. ©2001 Jan Phillips |