“Love Letter to the Earth” Worship Service Sermon: “A Sacred Relationship”

Think about a time you were aware of the simple joy of being alive… Where were you?  Now consider a time when you felt a sense of awe and wonder, of deep peace, and connection to the Divine? Where were you? Outside?

For all that the earth, all that nature gives us, how conscious, how aware are we of our living, sacred relationship with her?   How clearly do we see the earth – not just for who she is for us –   but for who she is on her own terms?  Could it be that our lack of engaging in a mutual relationship with the earth is at the heart of the climate crisis? Might a new awareness of our interrelationship with nature not only save, but renew, the earth, humanity, and our relationship with each other?

In the reading that Lindsay offered this morning, which was an anchor for our retreat, Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh invites us to connect with Earth as our Mother.  This morning, I’d like to invite us to try on an additional image – of Earth as beloved partner. Having officiated nearly 400 weddings, I see a pattern for how relationships evolve that might offer us a helpful way of looking at our relationship with the Earth.

Before someone ever gets to the altar, first, you have to notice the other person.  Perhaps you see them as good looking, intelligent, witty, and beguiling. You enjoy being in their presence… You like how you feel when you are around them. In the initial stage, it’s all about how this other person makes us feel; about what the other gives us; about what we are getting.

Then you begin to get to know the other person.  You listen to the stories of this person’s life.  You notice their likes and dislikes.  You observe their patterns.  You begin to get to know them for who they are.

Then, as the relationship unfolds, if this other person becomes someone special, it feels like you can’t get enough of them. You develop a heightened state of awareness. You may think about them all the time. You may even begin to fall in love. 

And, once you are in love, you may decide to chart a new path.  To share everything.  Two “I’s” become a “We” – two lives unite as one.

As Belden Lane points out in his book, “The Great Conversation” – even though nature gives us transcendent experiences of peace; even though nature can renew us mind, body, and spirit in ways that nothing else can –    as a culture, we have not even begun the first phase of relationship.  We may “hang out” with Earth, but we haven’t started consciously “dating.”  

We don’t typically look closely enough to see the earth for who she is.  As a culture, we are not regularly listening to her stories. We are not paying attention to her likes and dislikes. We have not given ourselves over to love, let alone to conscious, committed union.

Why might this be?  Think about the messages you were given about nature, about the earth, growing up. What were you told about the importance of the earth? If anything? About caring for, respecting or even loving the earth?

The message I received growing up in suburban upstate New York in the 60’s and 70’s, was typical of the time.  Nature was outside of me, mostly in remote places.  “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom,” National Geographic and Smithsonian magazines painted a picture of the natural world being somewhere else.   I also remember that as a small child, 

I enjoyed sitting by a favorite tree for long periods of time. I recall how much it meant to put in a garden. Our connection to nature is planted in our hearts. 

But, the main message many of us received from the culture was that nature was a distant other – with a capital O T H E R.

Judeo-Christian religious upbringing only reinforced this perspective. Humans, we were taught, especially male humans, had dominion over the rest of creation.  We are the best! The most important! God’s favored! In charge. Free to do whatever we think serves us.   

Look where it has gotten us.   

The youth of today have different challenges.  Many of their perspectives and habits are shaped by technology and its overuse. At least many of us over the age of 50 grew up at a time when our parents would simply say, “Go outside and play.  Come in when it gets dark.” 

Today, tragically, studies show that in this country screen time has dramatically overtaken outdoor play.  Youth ages 8–18 spend an average of 4-7 hours a day on screens—not including time spent on schoolwork.  During the pandemic, children’s screen time increased by 52%, adding more than an hour per day. In contrast, American children are spending less than 30 minutes outside each day. 

As Wendell Berry aptly recognizes, we won’t care for what we don’t know and love. 

Our children are increasingly losing meaningful, conscious contact with nature. 

Eco-psychologist Bill Plotkin suggests that given the increasing disconnect between humanity and nature and the existential threat of the climate crisis, we need  an “Eco-awakening, a recognition (echoing Thich Nhat Hanh) that it’s impossible for humanity to be separate from nature.” Given how many Americans live, this is a tall task.

What might it be like if we actually began consciously “dating,” consciously relating to, nature? Studies show that spending time in nature can help us be more mindful in the present, gain emotional resilience, improve mood and cognition, combat stress and increase our vitality.  Children who spend more time outdoors are less prone to obesity, asthma, anxiety, and depression, enjoying better physical and mental health. 

How many “dates” can offer all that?

Once we become conscious that we are having a relationship with nature, everything changes.  She will sweep you off your feet! Scientists have discovered that a weekend away – just three days and two nights in a wooded place – can increase the immune system functions that boost feelings of well-being for up to seven days. The same amount of time in a built environment has no such effect. After a mere weekend  in nature,  those in the study reported feeling awe, greater relaxation, and enhanced vitality. Sounds a lot like falling in love, doesn’t it?!

Thich Nhat Hanh also reminds us that every bite of food we enjoy is a gift of Mother Earth. “When we chew,” he writes, “we know that the whole universe is in that bite of food.”

Our Beloved Earth is in crisis. And unless we find a way to love her with our whole hearts and our minds; unless we learn to love her as ourselves, human existence is at stake. More and more species will become extinct. (The planet will do fine without us.)  

Like St. Francis, we can engage in ways of communicating with nature that involve deep listening and sharing from the heart. We can also acknowledge the ways we have mistreated the earth and seek to make repairs. 

Bill Plotkin writes, “We must dare again to dream the impossible and to romance the world, to feel and honor our kinship with all species and habitats…, and to shape ourselves into visionaries with the artistry to revitalize our enchanted and endangered world.”

It’s up to us to recognize the unity we already share. By loving the earth, by taking care of the water, the air, and the land, we love ourselves. By loving ourselves enough to step away from our screens and into nature, we can know the peace, the grace, the love, and the joy that surpasses understanding.  

Dear friends, by the power vested in me by the Commonwealth of our Beloved Earth, I now pronounce that we are One with Nature!! You may kiss the Earth! Amen.