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As Unitarian Universalists our interdependence calls us to love and justice. We begin from the knowledge that we belong to the earth, a truth both profound and mundane. Yet we often feel estranged from nature, disconnected from the connected web of creation.
Don MacKenzie, A United Church of Christ minister suggests this estrangement grates on us on some deep level, unsettles us. He says his grandfather, when feeling off, would say “If I could just walk across a newly ploughed field in my bare feet, and feel the dirt coming up between my toes, I’d know where I was.” https://orionmagazine.org/article/climate-and-creation/
I think we need the healing that comes from connecting with nature and I know the earth needs our help to heal and adapt to the climate crisis.
Spiritual resilience can arise in part through a visceral experience of the interdependent web of life, not just in our minds, but in our bodies and hearts. To find sanctuary in this blue green earth that is our home. This sense of love and connection can sustain us in the hard times, and these feel like hard times on so many levels.
My own spiritual practice to connect is simple – I go outside and sit under a tree – or I go outside and walk – or I just look out my window at the trees that I am so lucky to have around my home. I feel such gratitude to have all this green life just beyond my door, and every year I learn a little more about the trees and plants and birds and animals that share this land with me. I am beginning to know where I am.
I encourage all of you to find spiritual practices that connect you to the earth, from sketching a flower to singing a song outside to growing basil on the windowsill to hiking a mountain. Whatever lets you feel the way Mary Oliver feels in this excerpt from a poem:
When I am among the trees
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
Find the way nature nourishes your spirit and find ways to nourish nature. It is these gifts of connectedness that help us all.
Apr_2026_Theme_Packet_colour_with_discussion_guide.pdf
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