|
Why the Sky is Blue
I don't suppose you happen to know
Why the sky is blue? It's because
the snow
Takes out the white. That leaves it clean
For the trees and grass to take out the green.
Then pears and
bananas start to mellow,
And bit by bit they take out the yellow.
The sunsets, of course, take out the red
And
pour it into the ocean bed
Or behind the mountains in the west.
You take all that out and the rest
Couldn't be
anything else but blue.
Look for yourself. You can see it's true.
-- by John Ciardi, from Physics Humor
Though this theory may be regarded by some as being "out there" on the
fringe and a holdover from the 60s, some scientists do believe that the Earth is a living organism. They believe that water,
air, earth, plants, animals, and even the human population are all parts comprising one living being. This scientific
theory gives even more credibility to Paganism's view of "Mother Earth." From About.com's Pagan/Wiccan guide.
On Isolating Ourselves from Nature
"Oh what a catastrophe, what a maiming of love when it was made a personal,
merely personal feeling, taken away from the rising and setting of the sun, and cut off from the magic connection of the solstice
and equinox.
This is what is the matter with us, we are bleeding at the roots, because
we are cut off from the earth and sun and stars, and love is a grinning mockery, because, poor blossom, we plucked it from
its stem on the tree of life, and expected it to keep on blooming in our civilized vase on the table." ~
D H Lawrence
Simple Living
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately,
to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die,
discover that I had not lived. I wanted to live deep and suck all the marrow of life...." ~ Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau was a great influence on me when I was a teen, when a substitute
English teacher recognized my interests and gave me "Concord Rebel", a book about Thoreau by August Derleth. Thoreau had many
social problems because of his views, and he was never able to be happily married despite his desire to. Living simply isn't
a way to gain status in our society, but it is necessary in order to grow spiritually and to gain some peace of mind.
This site has some interesting reading on simple living that you may benefit from if
you are trying to shed excess baggage in your life.
Simplicity
- Value simplicity highly.
- Strive for it.
- Understanding begets simplicity.
- Explore alternatives and possibilities.
- Challenge and discard vestiges.
- Always be ready to start over.
- Think conceptually.
- Break things into pieces.
- Trade off other values for simplicity.
- Know who you're making it simple for.
-- by Edward De Bono as published in Rondout
Elder's Meditation of the Day
"The old people came literally
to love the soil and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of being close to a mothering power...The soil was
soothing, strengthening, cleansing and healing..." ~ Luther
Standing Bear, OGLALA SIOUX
Have you ever noticed the relationship
between children and the soil? Watch how happily they are touching the dirt. The children play in it and eat it. If you are
stressed, go to a spot on the Earth, sit down, put your fingers in the dirt, dig in it. Wash your hands in the soil. When
you touch it, notice what it does to your hands. Our bodies love to touch the Earth. Sometimes we get too busy and forget
these simple things.
Maybe you'll even want to plant a garden or flowers. These things are
mentally healthy.
Great Spirit, today, let me touch the Earth so the Earth can
touch me. -- WhiteBison.org
Government Climate-Change Research Plan is Good Start, But Major Improvements
Needed to Meet Nation's Needs
A report by the US National Academy of Sciences on climate change suggests that catastrophe could be imminent. It is possible that the global warming trend projected over
the course of the next 100 years could all of a sudden and without warning dramatically accelerate.
|
