The Beauty of Mother Earth

This past Saturday was the perfect day to take a quick drive to nature. It was cool, but there was still enough warmth from the suns rays to enjoy the outdoors. We went to a beautiful waterfall not too far from our home called Mesa Falls.

I wish I had words to describe my love for Mother Earth and the beauty she holds. I feel like I am at a season of my life where my relationship with Mother Earth is becoming more sacred. All that we are and have, all that keeps us alive and well, we own to her. She is alive and divine. Like a mother she gives all that she is and all that she has for the well-being of us who live on her beauty.

I really love reading about the American Indians relationship with Mother Earth. They so respected her, and so much of their spirituality had a connection to the earth. I was recently reading in a book called “Mother Earth Spirituality” when this passage really struck me.

“Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods… Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web he does to himself.

The earth is precious to God and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator.”

Mother Earth Spirituality – A Letter of Chief Seathl to Franklin Pierce 1854

I wish we though that way today. I wish we lived in accordance to this truth. I wish I did better to respect Mother Earth, to live in a manner that was more in harmony with nature.

Being in nature reminds me of my sacred duty to care better for the Earth. This trip to Mesa Falls was no exception. Glorious Mother Earth is worth every sacrifice we make to take care of her. May we each do our part on our strand of the web of life to care for the precious Earth God loves and created for us.

Small Changes | I will save 5 cents, but not the environment.

When we lived in Pennsylvania I would do my grocery shopping at a little store called Bottom Dollar. It was inexpensive, perfect for our student living days. They had all sorts of tricks to make sure they could keep their cost low, including making you pay 5 cents for each plastic bag you would use. Since I was attempting to be frugal, I would gather up my reusable bags each week before I went grocery shopping and only once had to buy a 5 cent bag.

I was recently reflecting on this time of life, noticing that I was so committed to bringing my own bag, when a small cost would be incurred if I didn’t. The grocery store closed down before our time in Pennsylvania was through, so I ended up having to shop at other stores, and just like that I stopped the habit of bringing my own bags.

If my calculations are correct, I probably saved about 10 dollars in plastic bag fees by bringing my own bags, which is really not that much over a 8 month period of time, but saving that money was easy, so I did it. I wondered why I was so willing to save 5 cents in grocery bag fees but not the environment? As I thought about it that way, I realized that I needed to get my reusable bags back out and make that effort to take them on my shopping outings.

Last week after I posted my article about making small changes, my cousin texted me telling me she had recently started using produce bags as well as reusable bags in her grocery shopping. That day as I was at a local farm I noticed they had these Eco Friendly Produce bags on sale, so a grabbed a few and used they for the first time yesterday. They are awesome, and so much better than those awful plastic produce bags.

So those are my two small changes this week. They are easy to implement and only take a little brain power to remember the bags before leaving the house.