There is a global tension being felt in the undercurrent of Life in response to climate and environmental change. I am well aware of the large effects occurring in this Time of Turning to habitat, water, air and to other living Beings. The news is full of information every morning I open the page. I find my emotions ricocheted across this spectrum most days which is not sustainable or healthy for my body or soul. Change is a fact, one of the key Truths of this World. Some changes are quicker in their effects on short term and long term trajectories. Some are downright terrifying.

I am driven to Hope in the thick of everything that is going on. Emotionally responding to current news is exhausting. We do not know how things are going to right themselves in the long run as Mother Earth works her way to a new Balance and Equilibrium. We can imagine, throw pictures onto the screen of the minds eye, but those images are not Truth….they are only images fed by projection and Hollywood science fiction movies. The question I seek an answer to is “How do I Stand as a true human being in these times?”

What is easily lost in the cacophony of these portents is the reality that something is deeper at work here. Something which is in All and pierces All, a subtle force of Light which Holds everything within its grasp of the cosmos. Over 110 billion humans have walked on the face of this Planet, some now living but most have passed on. Just like cells in a body, human creatures are a catalyst of Change to the surface of the Earth. Mother made us, feeds us, has sustained the existence of the hominid species for a little over 1.6 million years. WE may feel that we are the key components of driving change in this World, but keep in mind that Gaea has a purpose of her own in all of this, far greater than we can ever imagine.

I am choosing to Shift my Gaze, to look for the Light, the Miracle which lies within the calyx of a flower, in the Blessed alchemy of Water, in the creative force of Fire, in the cycles of the atmosphere and the gigantic processes of Earth. I choose to Shift my Gaze, to embrace a deep trust in this Planet and its processes. It “knows” what It is doing, even though it may result in the demise of our species. Life begets Life, one form replaces another. Disturbance is one of the driving principles in the creation and maintenance of that Life force here….

When I embrace a deep Trust in Nature, I no longer feel Fear. When I work in collaboration with these forces, I feel a keen sense of Balance. When I stir my compost piles, I Trust in the microbes to replenish the soil, they simply know what to do. They work in accordance with bacterial processes and enzymes, with frost and heaving cycles, with the rainfall that falls to the Earth… bringing Change to the rhizosphere which then feeds other organisms including trees and plants.

It is my Trust that propels me into Action, but without the Fear. It is my Trust that silently welcomes Hope to my world-weary Heart, like the dew on a meadow at dawn. My Trust launches me into joining my Heart to the persistent Light which underscores all things. Something elusive, but clearly perceived in my peripheral vision. It’s constancy a refuge, a balm to my news-weary Soul….