In South America, Mother Earth is called Pachamama. To the Greeks, she’s Gaia.
Over 40 years of celebrating Earth Day have lost some of the awe and sacredness that is essential for our return to wholeness. Over recent decades we have lost touch with the fact that people are actually part of nature. A good reminder is the national best seller The Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv.
It’s easy to forget, to become complacent or what seems to be the dominant story – feeling lost and powerless to do anything that could make a difference.
When I’m overwhelmed with the weight of loss and confusion, I try to remember how simple it can be by reading The Holonic Shift and How to Take Part in It. Author Joanna Macy, premier systems thinker, also writes about the new stories in "The Great Turning as Compass and Lens" in Yes! Magazine. Written in the spring of 2000, it holds true in 2010. She says we first need to stop actions that are destroying the living body of Earth. We also need new social and economic structures and finally, a deeper sense of who we are, who we want to be and how we want to relate to one another.
Perhaps our greatest Mother's Day gift to Pachamama/Gaia/Earth could be to wake up! See that there are others out there, just like you, just like me, concerned about our common future. It’s also a gift to her grandchildren and to the future generations.
This article appears in May 5-11, 2010.