Life Giving Part 2
April 9, 2025
Causeway to Holy Island, during high tide.
Our relationship with nature gives us life. Whether we are in the country or the city, there is always something of nature to which we can connect. The sky itself is life-giving, as are the sun and the moon. We may not have a nature reserve right by us, and we may not have access to a farm or field, but we have access to the air and the earth.
It is easy for us to disconnect from nature. It seems everything we need is on our phones, in our homes, or in our cars. But we are creatures of the earth and share life on the cellular level with all living things. Even the air we breathe is shared by all living things.
The Native Americans understood humanity’s relationship to the earth and how vital it is that the land and people cooperate as one living network. This harmony is in our ancient souls.
On Lindisfarne Island (Holy Island) off the coast of Northumberland, England, people are cut off from the mainland when the tide is high. But when it is low tide, people can travel the three-mile-long causeway to and from the mainland. The natives who’ve lived on the island for generations know when the tides are high and when they are low. They do not have to consult the tide tables; they’re engrained in their bodies. Their ancestors survived by learning the tides' ebb and flow, and that sensitivity has been passed down through the generations.
Yes, our ancestors who lived near the earth and directly from the earth, passed down information about the natural world to you and me. Even as a child who lived by the woods, I learned to recognize poison ivy and knew which small bushes were sassafras. I knew which trees held opossums and which thickets were inhabited by rabbits. I grew up and lost contact with my inborn inclination to become one with the earth. But I never lost the need to be in nature, and the older I get, the more time I like to spend in my backyard where trees reach over a hundred feet in the air, water flows, flowers grow, and birds sing.
Yes, civilization has a way of removing us from a direct relationship with soil, plants, and animals. St. Francis of Assisi reminded everyone that that all creation is a family and he referred to brother wind, sister water, and sister earth. All creatures were also brothers and sisters.
“Praised be You, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who brings the day, and you give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness. Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, you formed them clear and precious and beautiful in heaven."
St. Francis from Canticle of the Creatures. (1225)
Spiritual practice: Reaffirm your relationship with nature by directly relating to part of the natural world. Journal your impressions. What did you learn?
Dear God,
Thank you to my sisters and brothers. In your name, Amen
