Nature’s Wisdom
I’m veering off from my usual commentary about managerial accountability this week. We are in the midst of the holiest season of the year. Ramadan began last month and continues till April 20th. This date is also the day of a Solar Eclipse (not visible in North America but nonetheless powerful) and the New Moon, which is a time of reflection and dreaming.
Passover began on April 5th and ends the evening of the 13th. We’ve just celebrated Easter in the Catholic Church this past Sunday and Orthodox sects will celebrate it on April 16th. For others who may be celebrating their holiest times of the year, I send blessings to you.
I want to share with you a confluence of synchronicities I have recently experienced which has heightened my awareness.I recently came across a PBS special on Pope Francis’ Laudato Si, his 2016 Pastoral Letter to the world. In this letter, he implored human beings to address climate change and to develop a relationship with nature.
The filmmakers asserted that, over the past ten years, the Pope has done more for climate change than any other human being.
The program brought together a Chief from the Amazon Rainforest, a young woman from India, a young man from Zaire, and some of their contemporaries. This small group had received a personal invitation to travel to Assisi with the Pope.
The Pope shared the Bible story about building the Tower of Babel, which reached for the sky. If a worker carrying a block dropped the block, he or she was severely punished. If they fell to their death or were maimed, they were swept up and discarded. Rather harsh treatment, I think!
In his letter, the Pope referenced Nature screaming, crying out to humanity to help her. He shared that presently, many humans do not have good relationships with Nature. These are times of violent exchanges and spiritual confusion. Once aware of what is happening, we can’t look away.
All creatures, brother sun, sister moon, and all of the stars must be viewed as a choir, each having their own parts to sing and create magnificent harmony. An orchestra works precisely because of its diversity. The poor and indigenous cultures suffer the most from what the Pope labels economic arrogance and power over others.
The April 3, 2023 edition of the New York Times has a front page story of Tulare Lake in California’s Central Valley, the largest body of water west of the Mississippi. This lake was drained in the mid century to create agricultural land. The recent drought and now excessive rain has filled the lake bed and the Lake has resurfaced. In less than three weeks this parched land has been transformed. Melting snow from the mountains will add to its width and depth. Birds that once flocked there are returning. A disaster for agriculture, a reclamation for nature. What is Mother Nature telling us?
I’ve also been reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, her book of essays written from the perspective of a Botanist as well as a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Kimmerer describes the book as “an invitation to celebrate the gifts of the earth.” Discussing the unconscious polluting of Onondaga Lake outside of Syracuse, she discusses how nature always comes back, perhaps not how it once was but as a reclaimed land.
I was deeply touched when she wrote about the need to have a relationship with the land. I yearn to experience this heartfelt connection, to appreciate and accept the awe and beauty of that which humans did not create. The Spirit that created humans created all creatures, the earth and all living things. I wonder how we have gone so far astray.
It’s the first time in 30 years that Ramadan, Passover and Easter coincide and yet fighting is raging in the middle east, as well as in Ukraine. Why???? I am asking you to reflect during these most Sacred of times. What is truly important to you? How much money do you need? Are you fulfilled? What does relationship with Nature mean to you? Do your children need to receive a cadre of gifts every holiday? What does love mean to you?
What legacy are you planning to leave to your children, grandchildren and as the Hopi say going forward Seven Generations?
I welcome hearing from you.