Sextillions of Infidels! Earth Day 2010

(Blessings on Gaia – promoted by TheMomCat)

Today I come to sing…to praise.

I believe a leaf of grass is no less than

the journey-work of the stars,

And the pismire is equally perfect, and

a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren,

And the tree-toad is a chef-d’oeuvre for

the highest,

And the running blackberry would

adorn the parlors of heaven

And the narrowest hinge in my hand

puts to scorn all machinery,

And the cow crunching with depress’d

head surpasses any statue,

And a mouse is miracle enough to

stagger sextillions of infidels.

– Walt Whitman, Song of Myself, Leaves of Grass

Whitman

On this day I want to remember, to remind. We are all here for a purpose.

In this time, in our age, we are at a crossroads. The journey of our species is at a point where we will have to make choices. We no longer have the luxury of time to look away from the damages to this beautiful and rich planet, this diverse and complex organism, Gaia. We as a species

must turn within and find answers to the complex and overwhelming problems. Every day we are reminded of our over-indulgence, our rapacious appetite for our own selfishness. Earth Day is a day of awareness, a day to take a look at the place we call home and assess our impact. The body of science is clear, we are getting dangerously close to not only destroying the bio-diversity around us, but destroying ourselves, our species.

Our obligation to survive and flourish

Is owed not just to ourselves

But also to that cosmos

Ancient and vast, from which we spring

Carl Sagan

h/t to OPOL for getting me hooked on these vids…

The body of science is overwhelming.

But the more I read everywhere these days it is becoming increasingly clear to everyone…

You don’t need a weather man to know which way the wind blows – Bob Dylan

The metaphors all around are calling us. The signs upon the road are screaming at us. Awake. Look at what you were given. Look at what little power you have if you go to war with me, your home.

It is clear that we all must awaken. We must speak. The poets are beginning to speak, and the musicians, and the artists, and the common man is awakening. We are here to speak of what we know. We are connected. We are connected to the source from which we sprang and we want to live in peace with the creation around us.

The earth is awakening, Gaia is rising from slumber and we cannot subdue her…

Earth! my likeness!

Though you look so impassive, ample and spheric there,

I now suspect that is not all;

I now suspect there is something fierce in you, eligible to burst

       forth;

For an athlete is enamour’d of me-and I of him;

But toward him there is something fierce and terrible in me, eligible

       to burst forth,

I dare not tell it in words-not even in these songs.

Walt Whitman – Earth! my likeness!



Earth, my likeness…

The normalities of our time are shattering. We are on the verge of a new age. We are staring at the precipice and becoming aware and fierce. We need to step back from the edge. We need to deeply contemplate our path, our culture. We need to realize we are stewards and stewardship over this planet is our destiny. Not to commoditize, not to subjugate and control. We need to be stewards, to live in harmony.

We must do everything in our power to speak to those in power. We must sing. We must raise our voice, the voice of the collective. We must let those in power know, We want to live in harmony with our planet, with our home, with Gaia, with Earth.  The road ahead will be difficult. Nothing will be given with ease from those clutching to power. The time is coming when there will be no turning back.  

Today I sing of the Earth. Today I ask you to sing in your own way. Today I remember why I am here. Today I pray. Today I pray to the great mystery that we become stewards of the Earth. I pray we begin to understand the deep and ancient mystery from where we came. I pray that we learn to live in harmony. This is my prayer today.  

Take a moment to look at the smallest of wonders in front of you and remember, we are star stuff. We are miracles. The Earth is a miracle. Every living thing on this planet is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels.

I leave you now with an anodyne. The Ulrich Schnauss track As If You’ve Never Been Away set to scenes from the film Ata Whenua – Shadowland, which features footage from all over New Zealand.

Give me the strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is! Give me the eyes to see and the strength to understand, that I may be like you. With your power only can I face the winds.

Great Spirit, Great Spirit, my Grandfather, all over the earth the faces of living things are all alike. With tenderness have these come up out of the ground. Look upon these faces of children without number and with children in their arms, that they may face the winds and walk the good road to the day of quiet.

Black Elk – Black Elk Speaks

Black Elk Speaks

Awake

Speak

Sing!

Crossposted @ Dkos