EARTH PRAYERS

Selected by Vivienne Elanta

I’m going to plant a heart in the earth

water it with love from a vein

I’m going to praise it with the push of muscle

and care for it in the sound of all dimensions

I’m going to leave a heart in the earth

so it may grow and flower

a heart that throbs with longing

that adores everything green

that will be strength and nourishment for birds

that will be the sap of plants and mountains

Rosario Murillo

Wherever you are home is home

And the earth is paradise

Wherever you set your feet is holy land

You don’t live off it like a parasite

You live in it, and it in you,

Or you don’t survive.

And that is the only worship of God there is.

Wilfred Pelletier and Ted Poole

I have come to terms with the future.

From this day onward I will walk

easy on the earth. Plant trees. Kill

no living things. Live in harmony with

all creatures. I will restore the earth

where I am. Use no more of its resources

than I need. And listen, listen to what it is telling me.

MJ Slim Hooey

To be of the Earth is to know

the restlessness of being a seed

the darkness of being planted

the struggle toward the light

the pain of growth into the light

the joy of bursting and bearing fruit

the love of being food for someone

the scattering of your seeds

the decay of the seasons

the mystery of death

and the miracle of birth

John Soos

Sowing the seed,

my hand is one with the earth.

Wanting the seed to grow,

my mind is one with light.

Hoeing the crop,

my hands are one with rain.

Having cared for the plants,

my mind is one with the air.

Hungry and trusting,

my mind is one with the earth.

Eating the fruit,

my body is one with the earth.

Wendell Berry

Watching gardeners label their plants

I vow with all beings

to practise the old horticulture

and let the plants identify me.

Robert Aitken