Reflection
for September
"…And He said, `This is a beautiful world that I
have given you. Take care of it; do not ruin it."
-Jewish prayer
In the natural world, keen attention, flexibility, resourcefulness, and patience
are the four things needed to ensure survival. Animals, birds, water creatures,
reptiles, plants, trees and mountains all demonstrate these qualities in subtle
and dramatic ways. Many traditional societies prepare their children for
attending to the natural world by taking care of a plant or an animal as
preparation for attending to human relationships. Such keen attention requires
flexibility, resourcefulness, and patience in order for animals, plants, and
human beings to survive together in interdependent and natural ways. How
developed are your capacities for survival and attending to the survival of the
natural world? In what ways do you take care of the beautiful world that has
been given to us?
This month's practices:
 | For
the month of September, develop within your nature the four qualities needed
for survival in the natural world:
* keen attention *resourcefulness
* flexibility
*patience
Take a quality each week and practice it in everything you are doing during
that week. Notice what changes and opportunities these qualities bring to
your home and work environments.
|
| Take a resourceful action each
week that supports tending to the natural environment-"the beautiful
world that has been given to us"-in a way that makes a difference for
increased ecological sustainability in small and large ways.
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| In what ways do you foster
interdependence in your life? Nothing survives in nature that is fiercely
independent or excessively dependent. During this month, wean yourself away
from these two extreme patterns which impede human nature's capacity for
increased flexibility and fostering interdependence.
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| Practice patience. Impatience is
signaled by the desire to immediately push or hold back. When these impulses
emerge, wait and trust. We ruin what is natural when we act prematurely or
hold back. Notice what or who triggers your patience or impatience this
month. Remember the wise words from the Tao Te Ching: "Love the world
as yourself; then you can care for all things."
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