heartsteps

This composite high definition image uses a number of swaths of the Earth’s surface taken on January 4, 2012. The NASA satellite was renamed ‘Suomi NPP’ on January 24, 2012 to honor the late Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin.

Gentle souls, walk with me sometimes through
the breath of strangers, which parts like rain,
tremblingly brushes your cheeks, then behind you
with the parting tremble joins together again.

Strong, compassionate ones who reach the plateau
of the heart’s new capital, settle here, mark
how your arrows love the bull’s-eye and the bow,
how tears extend your eyesight through the dark.

Don’t be afraid to suffer. Learn to give back
heaviness to the dead weight of the Earth,
its mountains and seas, nothingness to the black

hole inside the Earth’s core. Though all the trees
you planted as children now have the girth
of monsters, still there are spaces … and the breeze.

Rainer Maria Rilke

O Earth, wrap me
in your leaves -
heal me.

Let me fall
under Earthbreast -
feed me.

Sing to me
under the round nests
in your cedar trees.

Embrace me
when I sleep
in your shade.

Let your eye keep me
protected and cool -
hide me.

Warm me
with naked summer
kisses and

Cloister me
Around
with wild flowers.

Refresh me
with springs
and living waters.

Draw me down
into your well
of rebirth and

Let my wounds
Open
and empty

Into your wonderful
Compost
heap.

Then fill me
with your fruit
and bread, start over,

Let my wounds
become fertile
gardens and

Let me be,
let me live
again.

Alla Renee Bozarth

Dear God,
Please bless and protect this sacred jewel,
Our vulnerable planet so besieged.
May the rivers and the oceans and the sky and the land
All be repaired somehow, dear Lord.
May the barbarism end, which threatens to destroy our priceless treasure.
For surely the earth has been our home,
The home of our parents unto all generations.
For the sake of our children, Lord,
Save this earth.
Place in all minds a greater awe before her mysteries.
Shield her and heal her wounds,
Restore her to her former glory.
Save her, Lord, from us.
Amen.

Marianne Williamson

We are the earth.

Earth is stardust-come-to-life, a magic cauldron where the heart of the universe is being formed. In me, the Earth and its creatures find their voices. Through my eyes the stars look back on themselves in wonder. I am the earth. This is my body.

We are the air.

Air is the breath of the Earth, the movement of life, the quick violent storm, and the slow, caressing breeze. In my breathing, life is received and given back. My breath unites me to all things, to the creatures that make the oxygen, and to the people that share the same breath: yesterday, a victim of AIDS; today a soldier in the Middle East; tomorrow, a poor woman in the Third World. I am air. This is my breath.

We are fire.

Fire is the energy of the universe, the source of power and new life. In my thoughts burn the fires of the original eruption of life; in my emotions, lightning flashes; in my love, new life is conceived. I participate in power. I share in the energy of the universe, to keep warm, to fuel my body, to create my relationships. I am fire. This is my power.

We are water.

Water is the womb of the earth, from which all life is born. The oceans flow through the Earth, bringing abundance; the oceans flow through me, carrying food, recycling waste, expressing emotions. I am water. This is my life.

Daniel Martin