The Call of the Earth
Following the Path of Transformation
by Weston Pew
This reflection about choosing life in the midst of deadly circumstances resonates today at least as loudly as it did a year before 9/11, when United Religions Initiative first posted Weston Pew’s passionate challenge on August 25, 2010. Though still involved with The Sacred Door Trail, today Pew is primarily occupied with Inner Wild, “a regenerative leadership program that uses contemplative tools such as pilgrimage, group dialog, rites of passage and nature connection to cultivate a deeper understanding of and relationship to self, Earth, and community.”
** ** **
Weston Pew traveling The Sacred Door Trail – Photo: URI
On my path over this past year, my work for The Sacred Door Trail has taken me to the melting glaciers of Greenland where gigantic ice walls fall into rivers every 20 minutes, shaking ground and bone as a warning call of the coming rising seas. I have been to the drought-stricken lands of Australia where in many places the rain has stopped falling. I have met with faith-based leaders from around the world and heard story after story of the rising seas of poverty in their homelands as the gap between rich and poor continues to grow. I have also sat in ceremony with indigenous leaders from around the world and seen tears filled with the centuries of pain and oppression that still haunt their people today, from the pillaged rainforests of Central and South America to our own backdoors in America, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. They are the face of Mother Earth. Their pain is her pain is our pain.
What has become very clear to me through all of this is that we as humans, as brothers and sisters built from the dust of stars and born from our one mother, the Earth, are facing the darkest and most challenging hour of our existence. Indigenous prophecies from all around the world, some thousands of years old speak of this time Right Now as the time of the great transformation. In each prophecy the details are different because the truth is being focused through different cultural filters. But the overall themes are the same, themes of transformation and of moving from Division into Unity.
This should come as no surprise to most people. All you have to do is look around or even better look within. There is so much division, so much separateness from the heart to the mind, from the masculine to the feminine and from human to human and human to the Earth. However, as the saying goes, “it is always darkest before the dawn.” In this universal breath that is this moment, we hold the power for absolute destruction or absolute transformation.
Each of us feels this possibility from within, and I believe that each of us is here right now at this time to access our greatest human potential, our greatest individual gifts and direct them towards the transformation of the greater good. In a sense we are all here as midwives to usher in this new chapter of human existence on Earth and within the universe. This transformation is taking place now within individuals all over the world, and soon we will begin to see it spill over into the tangible structures of our society and world which is already beginning to happen in some areas, it is what Paul Hawken refers to as “The Blessed Unrest.”
This transformation is not a guarantee. It will be determined by the choices we as individuals make on a daily basis and by our abilities to overcome self-limiting fear and step into our true power as human beings living at this very special and delicate time. If your actions are in line with the greater good, you will be supported, and in turn you will support!
My wish for you and for the world for this coming year is that we all find the strength to dream big and the courage to step into those dreams with our greatest gifts. May we share them with the world as tools for change. Whether it’s through teaching, art, business, gardening or care giving, there are many windows through which we can affect this change so that five generations from now our great, great grand children will not only be living sustainably on this Earth but thriving on it and with it. It is our generation’s task to create a world where Mother Earth reclaims our sacred reverence. A world where we hold love over fear, change over stability, vulnerability over control, forgiveness over revenge, peace over war, and unity over division. May our actions be the doorway that allows all life to flourish and in that flourishing offer new ways for the great creation and mystery to express itself as many and as one.
Here is a writing that I believe is a beautiful summation of the times that we are in and how to handle them.
Hopi shield – Photo: Flickr, Gwendal Uguen, CC 2.0 nc sa
“You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered . . .“Where are you living?What are you doing?What are your relationships?Are you in right relation?Where is your water?Know your garden.It is time to speak your Truth.Create your community.Be good to each other.And do not look outside yourself for the leader.This could be a good time!”
– Attributed to an Elder of the Hopi Nation
There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are torn apart and will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above water. And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.
The time for the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
