We continue sharing the visions of the men and women who have contributed to Order of the Sacred Earth…..
From earth visionary and activist Geneen Marie Haughen, PhD:
Matthew Fox and Skylar Wilson had concurrent dreams that led to what they call “The Order of the Sacred Earth”—a vision that arrived via the liminal threshold of night dreams, and a vision stunningly resonant with my own felt-sense of the Temple of the Holy Earth.
The waking vision of the Temple arrived (like the OSE) through the liminal, or imaginal threshold–in my case, via non-ordinary consciousness in wild nature, some years ago.
All creatures, as well as the planetary body, benefit when human beings recognize, honor, and participate with the holy Earth. Now, with the emerging Order of the Sacred Earth we are closer to an articulated vision of what such a world might be.
From educator and alternative doctor and yoga instructor Broderick Rodell:
As an African American male, witnessing the suffering of poor health quality within my community, I felt I had to do something about it. So, I began to investigate into the root cause of poor health and suffering. Over time, I soon came to understand that the well-being of the black community is inseparable from that of everyone else and the planet as a whole.
challenged urban community in San Francisco reclaiming
its land and local living economy through permaculture.
Video from the Earth Activist Training blog.
The OSE offers a promising path towards a more sustainable, healthy, and corporative future on our planet. It is based on a story that is Spirit centered, Earth centered, and community centered.
OSE calls on us to take full responsible for our connection to this Earth. It recognizes that we are the Earth. It understands that care of the Earth is care for ourselves, and that its health reflects that of our own.
From author and peace and justice activist Deborah Santana:
In our church, we joined with others who wanted to eradicate racism peacefully. It was our mission, as people of color who follow Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to stop racist oppression through peaceful protest and working together to change politics of persecution.
The idea and vision to have a spiritual order to celebrate, heal, and protect Mother Earth is a gallant one. To dedicate ourselves to this community will require deep prayer and the practice of nonviolence as we witness the destruction of our planet.
I hear the Earth crying for people to rise up and act as if every decision we make will either destroy or protect the planet….In order to stand in unity with the Order, I must sit in silence, and in prayer. When I am quiet, the wind whispers loving songs through tree leaves, birds whistle sweet melodies that soothe my soul. The ocean waves remind me of nature’s power, and each sunrise is a promise that I have been given another chance to make choices that preserve and replenish the gifts for Mother Earth.
The Order of the Sacred Earth is asking us to serve, give back, to become part of a spiritual order. They ask us to hope.
See Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, Jen Listug, Order of the Sacred Earth, pp.130f; 159, 163f.; 176, 178.
Banner image: “Earth in our hands” Photo by TitusStaunton on Pixabay
Queries for Contemplation
Do you also hear “the Earth crying”? What is it calling you to become and to do? Is a loose community like OSE part of that response that can assist your journey and your work?
Recommended Reading
Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
By Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jen Listug
In the midst of global fire, earthquake and flood – as species are going extinct every day and national and global economies totter – the planet doesn’t need another church or religion. What it needs is a new Order, grounded in the Wisdom traditions of both East and West, including science and indigenous. An Order of the Sacred Earth united in one sacred vow: “I promise to be the best lover and defender of the Earth that I can be.”
Co-authored by Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jennifer Berit Listug, with a forward by David Korten, this collection of essays by 21 spiritual visionaries including Brian Swimme, Mirabai Starr, Theodore Richards, and Kristal Parks marks the founding of the diverse and inclusive Order of the Sacred Earth, a community now evolving around the world.
“The Order of the Sacred Earth not only calls us home to our true nature as Earth, but also offers us invaluable guidance and company on the way.” ~~ Joanna Macy, environmental activist and author of Active Hope.
5 thoughts on “Further Visions of the Order of the Sacred Earth”
Yes! The loose connection that OSE offers is great and I see NOW as the perfect time for it to organically connect all lovers of Mother Earth, like myself.
Today’s Meditation is exactly what I want and am looking for with my “quiet thoughts.” If only the whole world could see and believe this rather than “settle for the EASY norms of the GROUP.” I’ve never been a Groupie in the natural sense of that word. My thoughts are my own with a final analysis of a discussion, and these thoughts of OSE fill my bucket to a T. (looking at “T”, your thoughts put the HANDLE onto my Bucket of Thoughts!) YAY!!!
Thank you, Rev. Matthew. Peaceful Seeking and Thinking and Living. Amen.
Barbara M.
The OSE totally connects with me and my journey. Thanking you for naming this and inspiring my future creative event in the UK this year.🙏🙏🙏🙏
My daughter and I are taking an Urban Agriculture certificate class. Upon completion, we will receive a voucher worth up to $1000 to redeem for a vacant lot in our county. There are hundreds of them, many within neighborhoods deemed “food deserts.” The earth has been calling us for years to bring life back to these vacant lots. To use them as places to bring health and nutrition to a part of our community that has been neglected. To also bring the community together to nuture the land, the community we live in and ourselves. Our plan to do this keeps evolving into bigger plans—wanting to persuade our city’s school system to grow its own food on some of these lots and/or on land that it owns. These big ideas are not without road blocks and many hoops to jump through. These daily meditations and the OSE help in providing courage to take the next and necessary steps we feel called to take to make these ideas reality.
Dear Shell,
This is such important work. It addresses so many needs and possibilities with a rake and a hoe. This sacred earth, despite enduring our disrespect and mistreatment, still welcomes us back to plant our future into her rich soil to yield a more natural way of living. I hope your gardening flourishes and inspires others to do the same – including the schools.
Order of the Sacred Earth community pods do not need to be connected only through ideas and rituals. A community of urban farmers could choose to become an OSE pod, dedicate themselves standing on the very soil they are cultivating, and honor a sense of the sacred when ever you work the land….Powerful!
Gail Sofia Ransom
For the Daily Meditation Team