Spiritual Development

The gate at the entrance to the Sacred Embrace Earthwork symbolizes the nurturing aspect of Creation.  Photo by Michele Banker.

As people of faith, we witness to the sacredness of all life, both as God’s ongoing revelation and that which physically sustains us.  In fulfilling God-given responsibility as stewards and protectors of Creation we are guided by Mary and nourished by the gifts of the Earth. 

We have never had a more clear picture about the threats to creation.  Science has painted a vivid image in meticulous detail.  Still, we consume more than we need in ways which are not sustainable, and the picture of a suffering Creation comes into even sharper focus.  The crisis is not one of knowledge, nor of skill.  The crisis is spiritual.

In most public discourse about the environment, we talk of policies, economics and incentives - the language of power, utility and ownership.  With what words, however, do we speak the language of Creation?  What words tell the story of our true relationship with Earth?  To recover this lost language, we must nurture a relationship with Creation.  To read God's revelation in the words of nature, long obscured by the abuse of the land, we must be active seekers.

At MEEC, we provide opportunities to learn the words to what Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook called the Four-Fold Song.  He wrote that some people only sing the song of self.  Some sing the song of their people.  Some sing the song of humanity, and some sing the song of creation.  In the Four-Fold Song, we sing them all.