Dust, gravel, mud, clay, flesh, bone, muscle, breath, cloud, tree, bird, flower, cement, rock, wire, mountain, worm, shrub, rice, water, whale, human. When we celebrate Earth Day, we’re celebrating how every morsel of matter that makes up this world is brought to us by our mother, Earth. Everything that we do leaves a mark, transforms substances, affects the processes that sustain our natural environment. We are made of it. So Earth Day is a day of prayer. May our way of life be awake to and align in the best way with Earth’s offerings. Let’s bring to mind here the Empty Field dedication:

We extend the compassion and wisdom generated by our
practice to the health and renewal of Mother Earth
and the enlightenment of all her inhabitants –
deer, bobcat, cedar, snail, goldfinch, camas,
mosquito and blackberry. May we honor
         our profound and ungraspable interdependence
and the selfless generosity of the natural world.
May we practice in kind, and awaken
         together with all beings.