I know I just posted about getting outdoors, but in the context of this weeks upstate NY flooding, during a conversation about how upset Mother Nature was, a friend asked me this question: "What should we be doing for Mother Nature to calm her down again?!!!" It's an enormous question, and my mind boggled at trying to answer it. I thought for a long time about it. Should I list off all the things that we all know we should be doing, like recycling, cutting down on fuel consumption, conserving water, ensuring an adequate supply of healthy non-GMO food, and supporting renewable energy resources? I decided that my friend already knew about all that, and was looking for something else, and my intuition tells me that it's not the message that Mother Nature is trying to get across anyway.
Should I say "Pray!"? Well, as much as I know that it would help, I still recognize that it's not the answer that's needed here. Yes, we should certainly do all that, but I think there's more to it.
It finally occurred to me that Mother Nature is, first and foremost, a mother. What does every mother want? Your respect, and your attention. She wants you to listen when she speaks, and learn, and understand. That's every mother's job...to teach you what you need to know in order to grow.
It seems that we, as a species, have managed to anger Mother Nature. We are like know-it-all teenagers, and we are not listening, and Mom is now pitching a fit. Floods (crying), fires (hot temper), earthquakes (stomping her feet), hurricanes and tornadoes (throwing the dishes). She's mad. She's trying every way she knows to get our attention, and make us listen, and we're still squabbling over silly stuff, like who can marry who, and where the imaginary boundary lines are, and who can cross them and who cannot. Enough already!! Just stop! Listen to Mother Nature. Turn off all the electrical gadgets, and get out of the house. Go out into the woods, and meadows, or to the beach, as far out as you can, and sit down, alone, and I really mean alone, and listen. Just listen...for at least two hours. All day if you can manage it. Be willing to open your mind, and really hear what's being said. In fact, ask what the message is. Think in your mind, "What are you trying to tell me? What are you trying to teach me?", and be open to hearing the answers. The answers may be different for everyone, and as mad as Mom is, you may have to go sit a few times before she's willing to talk to you, but if you do go, and you do sit, and you do listen, you are showing her respect, and I believe she will respond. I believe she will answer. Your job is to hear, and to learn, and then go do what she asks.
Should I say "Pray!"? Well, as much as I know that it would help, I still recognize that it's not the answer that's needed here. Yes, we should certainly do all that, but I think there's more to it.
It finally occurred to me that Mother Nature is, first and foremost, a mother. What does every mother want? Your respect, and your attention. She wants you to listen when she speaks, and learn, and understand. That's every mother's job...to teach you what you need to know in order to grow.
It seems that we, as a species, have managed to anger Mother Nature. We are like know-it-all teenagers, and we are not listening, and Mom is now pitching a fit. Floods (crying), fires (hot temper), earthquakes (stomping her feet), hurricanes and tornadoes (throwing the dishes). She's mad. She's trying every way she knows to get our attention, and make us listen, and we're still squabbling over silly stuff, like who can marry who, and where the imaginary boundary lines are, and who can cross them and who cannot. Enough already!! Just stop! Listen to Mother Nature. Turn off all the electrical gadgets, and get out of the house. Go out into the woods, and meadows, or to the beach, as far out as you can, and sit down, alone, and I really mean alone, and listen. Just listen...for at least two hours. All day if you can manage it. Be willing to open your mind, and really hear what's being said. In fact, ask what the message is. Think in your mind, "What are you trying to tell me? What are you trying to teach me?", and be open to hearing the answers. The answers may be different for everyone, and as mad as Mom is, you may have to go sit a few times before she's willing to talk to you, but if you do go, and you do sit, and you do listen, you are showing her respect, and I believe she will respond. I believe she will answer. Your job is to hear, and to learn, and then go do what she asks.
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