Today is Earth Day, one day a year when we celebrate and care for the Earth. Many people will work in their years, planting flowers, raking and “waking up the Earth.” Others will clean up neglected areas, especially streams or polluted lands. Hopefully these activities create more awareness of the vital reality that we humans are part of the Earth, not separate from it. Caring for the Earth is caring for ourselves, friends, and communities. Everyone, Everywhere.

The photo is the magnificent maple tree in our backyard, reminding us of the gifts of trees, as they care for us. Inhaling carbon, exhaling oxygen, providing shade, beauty, renewal. It reminds me of a quote by the poet Rainer Marie Rilke: “If we surrendered to the Earth’s intelligence we could rise up rooted, like trees.”