In Honor of St. Francis ~ Reflections on Sister Earth!

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• This earth we are riding keeps trying to tell us something with its continuous scripture of leaves. –William Stafford
• Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it.  Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love he animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. When you are left alone, pray. Love to throw yourself on the earth and kiss it.  Kiss the earth and love it with an unceasing, consuming love.
                                                                                          – Fyodor Dostoevsky
• Apprehend God in all things, for God is in all things. Every single creature is full of God and is a book about God. Every creature is a word of God. If I spend enough time with the tiniest creature, even a caterpillar, I would never have to prepare a sermon. So full of God is every creature. – Meister Eckhart

Poem by John Soos

To be of the Earth is to know/the restlessness of being a seed/the darkness of being planted/the struggle toward the light/the pain of growth into the light/the joy of bursting and bearing fruit/the love of being food for someone/the scattering of your seeds/the decay of the seasons/the mystery of death/and the miracle of birth.

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"When we recognize ourselves as a part of the earth community, as the scriptures and mystics have encouraged us to do for centuries, then we begin to see the profound mystery at work in the depths of our own souls as the same sacred mystery at work in the natural world. Being present to the gifts of creation helps to give us insight into paths for our own spiritual growth and into the ways in which God is present to us."

Blessing of Earth

Spirit of the Abundant Earth/Allow me to live in the knowledge that/I am of the earth, from the earth, and returning to the earth.
Tree of Life/Rise up in me, /Rooting me deeply in the ground/And inviting me to extend my branches far into the sky. 
Spirit that rises like bread,/Knead me into the shape you desire for my life/And allow me to be nourishment for others.
Blessings of the earth be upon me./May its taste, smell, and touch remind me of the abundance of God. (Christine Valters Paintner)

Photo Courtesy of  S. Anita H., CSA