Daily Meditation for January 31, 2023

The earth where we live in Central Minnesota now lies in winter rest. With no plowing, planting and harvesting to sap our energy, it’s a good time to consider some wisdom from the First Nations of the land. Two hundred years ago, Chief Seattle wrote to the American government with concerns about the future of our planet earth. He asked, “Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the daughters and sons of the earth? Whatever we do to the web of life, we do to ourselves?” Our concerns in the 21st century echo Chief Seattle’s in the 19th century. We are experiencing changes in the earth’s waterways, its wind patterns and fire paths. Do we realize that earth’s changes are affecting the web of life as well as our children and our children’s children?

By +Theresa Schumacher, OSB