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an open letter to the earth


Dear earth,

i understand that it is earth day today, which jack tells me rhymes with birthday. this is significant i guess, at least to a 4-year old. i know it isn’t your birthday (is it?), but i thought i would write you a note today, on this your special day. maybe it’s a bit odd for me to write to you, you not being able to really receive letters and all, but maybe in a way this is something like prayer: more for me than for you. in any case, i find that i’m usually just using you for a place to stand, or something to hold me up against the relentless weight of the universe pressing down on me. come to think of it, you’re a pretty important part of my life, and i don’t often stop to say thank you. so, thank you.

thank you for holding me up. thank you for how your soil is always so perfectly cool just under the surface, even when the sun is scorching hot. thank you for blackberries, and how they stain my fingers. thank you for spinning your way around the sun, keeping us close enough, but not too close (its just perfect). thank you for woods and birdsongs and autumn orange leaves. thank you for how i see the creator’s fingerprints all over you. thank you for the taste of icicles, honeysuckle, and apples. thank you for changing seasons, keeping me in touch with the cycles of life, and never letting me get too comfortable. thank you for supporting and sustaining me.

and while i’m at it, i would just like to say i’m sorry. i mean, i don’t always understand it all, and i feel like one tiny ant in the ginormous anthill of life, but i am truly sorry for all the waste and wear. and for the times i’ve been too lazy to recycle or put my garbage in the right place. and for the times i’ve been too vain to use something used. and for the times i’ve been too selfish to think about anything bigger than me.

so happy earth day. here’s to you. and here’s to being more thankful to you.
get some rest.
greg.

Comments

Genesis 1:31a (The Message)


31 God looked over everything he had made;
it was so good, so very good!
Ryan Dunn said…
Well put.

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