Love the Earth. Lift Up That Love Now.

 

Rivera Sun in Aspen Cathedral, Taos, New Mexico

The Earth is crying out for our love, for humanity to return to loving the contours, complexity, and exquisite beauty of our world. We have forgotten, turned away, hardened our hearts, and closed our ears. We have fallen into the terrible habit of thinking of this Earth as an object, a resource, or the backdrop to our lives.

Now, the Earth is calling for us to love, and as lovers, to hold up her beauty to the ignorant and destructive, so humanity can fall down on our knees together and weep. For the end of our long nightmare is dawning, and the fog of our human delusions might break . . . but only if some of us hold up the fierce light of our passionate, relentless love and break through that which obscures our fellow human beings’ understanding.

Remember, remember, the sidewalks of suburbia, the towers of the cities, the pavement, the smell of concrete and tar, the strip malls, the traffic jams . . . one half of our US population now lives in such a world. Remember, remember, the powerful speak in the language of profit margins and resources sitting in boardrooms in office buildings under artificial lights. Remember, remember, there are backwards ideas that still think in terms of former centuries, when the Earth was large and humanity small and weak. Now, we are seven billion and more, and our human ways impact the world on the scale of atmospheric shifts, and climate changes, and mass species extinction.

We must speak to all of these human perspectives and more. In love, with love, lovingly, we who adore this planet’s infinite complexity and beauty must show our beloved Earth to those who have forgotten. It is not about right and left . . . don’t fall for that trap. There are plenty on both ends of the spectrum who think only in terms of streets and screens and convenience. There are people from all walks of life who love the land with an intimacy so raw and visceral that it gives new depths of meaning to the very concept of the human being. There are some who love the Earth as God’s creation; there are some who simply love the Earth. The message is shared between them: love the Earth, love the Earth, love the Earth.

For love to happen new hearts, we must introduce the Earth to those who have never met her, to those who have only seen her as an object, to those who understand her only as an abstraction on television, to those who have forgotten her, to those who have feared her, to those who have fought with her.

We who live so intimately with our beloved Earth can use the common ground of our social media, emails, phone calls, letters, media, and more to share why we love the land, air, water, animals, plants. We can post our photos, or those of others and speak up, write our passionate adoration down and send it to those who have not heard those kinds of expressions in a while. We can share our shameless, oblivious teenage love, or our older, considerate love; or our lifetime committed love. Every day, we can post some intimacy, such as a tree blossoming and budding, or the flock of songbirds resting for a while on the long migration route. Lift it up. Make it real and felt for our human brothers and sisters who live estranged from the rest of the Earth.

Love the Earth. Love the Earth. Love the Earth.

Step out your front door. Reach down and touch the Earth. Use the powerful human capacity to envision and imagine to see the truth: your fingers touch the Earth that stretches underneath us all. You have a voice, a mind, language, and means of communication. The Earth is asking you to love her, and to speak to your human brothers and sisters on her behalf.

Our love has always been our saving grace. I place my faith upon it: our love can save us now.

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ARivera New Hatuthor/Activist Rivera Sun, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is the author of The Dandelion Insurrection, Billionaire Buddha and Steam Drills, Treadmills, and Shooting Stars, the cohost of Love (and Revolution) Radio, and the co-initiator of Live Share Grow: A Movement for the 100%. She is a trainer and social media coordinator for Campaign Nonviolence and Pace e Bene. Sun attended the James Lawson Institute on Strategic Nonviolent Resistance in 2014 and her essays on social justice movements appear in Counterpunch, Truthout and Popular Resistance. www.riverasun.com

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