Mercy, Mercy Me: On Earth Day, Learning to Hear What Matters

Where else can you go on a Sunday morning for a meaningful mindset reset and hear our own local superstars belting the venerable Rev. Al Green from the stage? One more reason I love this place. Mercy, mercy me.

That opening set the tone, soulful and grounded, for this pre-Earth Day Sunday. Followed by Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi, another favorite, and also, sadly, the perfect Earth Day song for all the wrong reasons. And, our talented team more than did the music justice, once again synchronizing music and message.

The Talk: Learning to Hear What Matters

Rev. Judith Laxer came back to CSL Ballard this week with a message we all need to hear (IMHO). A Pagan priestess, herbalist, and thoughtful observer, she's the perfect messenger for an Earth Day excursion into what matters most. Continuing our April theme, The Practice of Becoming, Rev. Judith invited us to listen beyond the noise we're all bombarded with every day.

The cacophony can be deafening if we let it. Rev. Judith offered a different way to listen.

What are we actually doing?

Rev. Judith reminded us that Earth Day began 56 years ago, in 1970, when the smell and sight of air pollution made ignoring it impossible. Not only are we poisoning the planet; we're poisoning ourselves. To her point, ancient indigenous wisdom could have told us, but it took leaded gas and smog to wake the rest of us up.

And yet, here we are, decades later, and we (collective) still fight over oil, and still protect the bottom lines of people who have more than enough, who grab as much as they can while they can.

I liked Rev. Judith's reframing, though: Going for all we can while we're here isn't necessarily a bad thing.

It's what we go for that makes the difference.

Some examples: Get as much love as you can. Go for as much joy as you can. Accumulate as much generosity and creativity as you can. Learn all you can. These are worthy of grabbing as much as you can. But accumulating more? Like stuff, status, money, power? Most of us really don't need more. She said, "These are the wrong things to go for."

I liken it to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the US economic success measurement. This has never made sense to me. It measures economic activity, but not its impact. Oil spills, deforestation, and mining can increase the GDP. Disaster relief can increase the GDP. Again, IMHO, that's George Orwell 1984 all over again: Up is down and down is up.

Years ago, I read local author Alan Durning's This Place on Earth. He asks the question, how much is enough? Do we really need more, or is that the story we've been sold? We're consumers for the sake of consumption. As Rev. Judith put it, there's no scarcity. There's just hoarding.

The noise we're fed insists our worth is tied to productivity, accumulation, and consumption. But that's not a law of nature.

What are you paying attention to?

Her social media example hit a nerve. Going from browsing online for gardening tips to suddenly prepping for Armageddon is #truth. That's how it works, and how it's designed to work. She explained, "One minute I'm looking at tomato-growing tips; the next I'm gripping my phone, heart racing, watching reels about stockpiling food for the end times." Ugh.

The question isn't whether to tune out entirely, but instead, how to be selective and mindful. Take in enough to be informed, and let go of the rest.

Another idea? Go outside. Seriously.

I didn't know what cleavers were (looked it up...). Apparently, this weedy, sticky plant has a medicinal use, and when it showed up uninvited in Rev. Judith's garden, as an herbalist, she knew they support the lymph system. This is important information as we age and perhaps move less. "Mother Earth was telling me, here, you need this now," she said. So listened, and then made tea and a tincture.

When we tune out the noise, we can hear.

Community Isn't Optional Right Now

Things are crumbling — systems, norms, assumptions we've taken for granted. Rev. Judith's take, and one I echo: It has to end so we can rebuild.

But that can be scary, so when things feel that way, that's when we need community more than ever. Community is what will see us through all this. Fear just makes us pull away and shut down. We need connection. We need each other.

And that's what Sunday mornings are for.

Right Action

Earth from space

Every astronaut who sees Earth from space describes the same thing, what's called the Overview Effect. Borders vanish, and the fragility of that little blue marble becomes undeniable. They come back wanting to protect it.

What would it take for all of us to see our precious planet this way? To feel her strength, and yet, her fragility? Can we cultivate the desire to protect what nourishes us?

Rev. Judith suggested we pick one thing, just one, that you can do. The Buddhists talk about "right action." What's that for you? There's no shortage of options and possibilities, from consuming less to planting more potatoes. Do what you can, when you can. And listen to what the Earth, and your inner wisdom, are telling you.

After sharing a metta meditation, Rev. Judith added, "May the increasing light help us come to our senses."

Indeed.

With gratitude,

Laura