Have you listened to the Earth?
HAVE YOU LISTENED TO THE EARTH?
Yes, the earth speaks, but only to those who can hear with their hearts. It speaks in a thousand, thousand small ways, but like our lovers and families and friends, it often sends its messages without words. For you see, the earth speaks in the language of love. Its voice is in the shape of a new leaf, the feel of a water-worn stone, the color of evening sky, the smell of summer rain, the sound of the night wind. The earth’s whispers are everywhere, but only those who have slept with it can respond readily to its call.
The earth speaks in many ways, on many levels. For the Australian Aboriginals, perhaps the oldest continuous culture in the world, the features of the earth are an everyday part of their living heritage. They read their story of life in the landscape itself. For them every mountain, every river, every valley speaks of ancient events. A gigantic monolith becomes a rock dropped from the sky, a stone outcropping an effigy figure, a mountain range a great lizard. For the modern geologist, the earth speaks of ancient events as well, but in this instance, those features are the direct result of the natural phenomena of the planet. A hill represents a glacial remnant, a solitary boulder an erratic, a canyon a timetable. However, for the earth lover, each fold, each depression, each peak in the crust of the planet speaks of new discoveries in a lifelong quest to seek out magical places, to be intimate with the earth and its life.
Yes, falling in love with the earth is one of life’s great adventures. It is an affair of the heart like no other; a rapturous experience that remains endlessly repeatable throughout life. This is no fleeting romance, it’s an uncommon affair, one that is unconstrained by age or storm, and strengthened rather than diminished through sharing. In fact, the more one gives it away, the stronger it grows.
Come, listen to the earth.
The Earth Speaks
By Steve Van Matre and Bill Weiler