(Compiled by Jan Thomas
for ChI's Earth-Based Spirituality module)
1
“O God,
Whenever I listen to the voice
of anything you have made-
The rustling of the trees,
The trickling of the water,
The cries of birds,
The flickering of shadow,
The roar of the wind,
The song of the thunder,
I hear it saying:
God is One!
Nothing can be compared with God!”
(Rabi'a, Sufi mystic, Iraq, eighth century)
2
“Glance at the sun.
See the moon and the stars.
Gaze at the beauty of earth's greenings.
Now think.”
(Hildegard von Bingen)
3
“How wonderful, O Lord,
are the works of your hands!
The heavens declare Your glory,
the arch of the sky displays Your handiwork
In Your love You have given us the power
to behold the beauty of Your world
robed in all its splendor.
The sun and the stars,
the valleys and the hills,
the rivers and the lakes
all disclose Your presence.
The roaring breakers of the sea
tell of Your awesome might,
the beast of the field
and the birds of the air
bespeak Your wondrous will.
In Your goodness
You have made us able to hear
the music of the world.
The voices of the loved ones
reveal to us that You are in our midst.
A divine voice sings through all creation.”
(Jewish prayer, adapted from Psalm 104)
4
“It is lovely indeed, it is lovely indeed.
I, I am the spirit within the earth.
The feet of the earth are my feet,
The legs of the earth are my legs
The bodily strength of the earth is my strength,
The thoughts of the earth are my thoughts,
The voice of the earth is my voice.
The feather of the earth is my feather,
All that belongs to the earth belongs to me,
All that surrounds the earth surrounds me.
I, I am the sacred words of the earth.
It is lovely indeed, it is lovely indeed.”
(Song of the Earth Spirit—Navajo legend)
5
“Almighty One, in the woods I am blessed.
Happy everyone in the woods.
Every tree speaks through thee, O God!
What glory in the woodland!”
(Ludwig van Beethoven)
6
“O wild earth, bless my loneliness
with your solitude.
Answer my longing
with your silence.”
(Elias Amidon)
7
“May all I say and all I think
be in harmony with Thee,
God within me, God beyond me,
Maker of the Trees.”
(Chinook Psalter—North American Indian)
8
“Think of our life in nature,—daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it,—rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks! the solid earth! the actual world! the common sense! contact! Contact! Who are we? where are we?” (Henry David Thoreau)
9
“When the sun crosses the pine cliff,
Let us sing our fourth song.
Rocks swim in the water’s bosom,
They weave a rainbow of another sky.
Trees and spring are deep and good;
My heart dances with exalted joy.”
(Yi I, China?)
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SOURCES
1. Holly Hughes, Meditations on the Earth: A Celebration of Nature, in Quotations, Poems, and Essays, Philadelphia, Running Press, 1994.
2. Peter H. Lee, Celebration of Continuity: Themes in Classic East Asian Poetry, Cambridge, Massachusetts and Harvard University Press, 1979.
3. Ivo Mosley, Earth Poems: Poems from Around the World to Honor the Earth, Harper San Francisco, 1996.
4. Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon, Earth Prayers from Around the World: 365 Prayers, Poems, and Invocations for Honoring the Earth, San Francisco, Harper San Francisco, 1991.
5. Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon, Honoring the Earth: A Journal of New Earth Prayers, Harper San Francisco, 1993.
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