Living Life as CeremonyDonna L. Long

I confess I have had those moments of imagining what if we just gave up? Of not living environmentally responsibly. Of no longer caring. What if we stop behaving responsibly? I guess ‘the end’ will come soon enough. Sometimes, I think, ‘Let’s just get this destruction thing over with.’

Materialism is a poison that invades every cell of the body. It’s a poison that attacks the brain and robs our ability to think. The odds against honoring the Earth and treating her as sacred seem unsurmountable.

But I remember what my grandmother would say to me when I was a child, that powerful spirits were watching me, to see if I was a good human being or not. Life becomes a ceremony.

Help to Live Harmoniously

In eastern indigenous (American Indian) cultures, there are human-like beings who have contact with the great Mysterious Power that pervades the Earth. The power instructed these beings to help humans live harmoniously in the Earth. The beings want to see how well you are doing. They want to see if we are following our instructions and living as a good human beings ought to live.

I think about these powerful beings and the lessons they taught. I learned from them through my grandmother, that just because someone else is not doing what they are supposed to, doesn’t mean you stop doing what you are supposed to do. Whether I am a good human being doesn’t depend on someone else. It depends on me.

Hope For Better Ways to Come

And I just have this optimism that will not go away. I know that all things will work together for good. That one day, humanity will regain its sanity and live as we are intended to live, in harmony and respect of creation and each other.

I admit, right now things are rough. But, the one thing that gets me through, is that reality bites. And no matter what nonsense self-deluded humans tell themselves, reality always wins. And wins big.

There is natural law. Natural Law is of peace, harmony, and life. Mother Earth will continue to be what she is supposed to be. She will regenerate and re-green.

We must do what is best for the Earth and all living beings, what is just and good. That is environmental justice.

For those of us who see the Earth as a living being, we can’t abandon her. She is a being under attack by aggressive, violent people. We come to her aid and stand with her. We are warriors who protect those who need our help.

In this life, how you live becomes a prayer. And your prayer becomes a ceremony.