A Breeze That Nourishes All Things Green

 

Let us widen our capacity for the small. Our ability to delight in little things has as much to do with solving the environmental crisis as the regulation of industry or the introduction of new technologies. When we nurture the heart's joy, the mind is quiet enough to find sacraments in the ordinary -- a breath of wind on our cheek, the sound of raindrops, the taste of a locally grown strawberry. This will diminish our consumption of earth's resources as much as any government mandate. Our capacity for small delights is not a legal restriction, but the fruit of an inward spiritual practice essential for sustainable living.

Emerald is the color vibration of the abundant heart, the contented heart. When the heart is green, the mind does not grasp for the wealth of the world. Environmental crisis is spiritual crisis. We consume our earth, desecrate wilderness, and make war on nations to fill our tanks with energy. But the tank that must first be filled is the soul, which is our capacity for wonder. Most wealthy Americans suffer a secret fever of lack. Beneath our designer labels, cosmetics and cologne, is a physiognomy of enervation, stress and drain. Conspicuous consumption leads to exhaustion.

Inner stillness nourishes environmental activism. Contemplative spirituality is crucial to saving the earth. Through daily meditation, the green activist charges her soul with the viridescent radiance of Sophia, the inward light of Wisdom. Hildegard of Bingen, 12th Century eco-mystic, called this "the greening power of the Holy Spirit." In one of her spirit-songs, she wrote: "I am the Breeze that nourishes all things green."

As we breathe this feral radiance of the Green Spirit, we cease devouring the earth. When simple necessities become sacraments, rather than disciplines of the law, we live in harmony with bees, salmon, ancient forests. To be content with less is not a virtue imposed by looming disaster, but a dividend of meditation, received by a grace-full heart.


Painting: 'The Peaceable Kingdom' by Quaker artist Edward Hicks