Seven of us met on Monday, June 14, as part of a planning circle for the Season of Creation (Sept. 1 – Oct. 11). There were introductions and “ecotroductions,” a new word for me meaning an introduction where you reference your embeddedness in the land and in your community. It became clear in our conversation that we wanted to begin our journey together with a ceremony/ritual/ liturgy. This blog offers some thoughts about why that is important.
One of the members of the Green Exodus community has been reflecting on the opportunity to create a personal land acknowledgement. In the following comments she expresses poignantly where many of us start from as settlers or immigrants when we think about how we want to honour the place we inhabit now, the place which … CONTINUE READING
Green Exodus meditation leader and participant Ken Madden, writing on the site The Tattooed Buddha, shared this meditation for developing four core Buddhist virtues: compassion, empathic joy, loving-kindness and equanimity. In the presence of our pets, we can deepen our capacity to receive reality just as it is – with love. “I offer this as … CONTINUE READING
In our Green Exodus Gatherings we have been considering our personal land stories and land acknowledgements. Suzanne V. took that challenge (Thank you, Suzanne!) and responded with the following words and artifacts (pictured): The red basket, for fire, has a lava rock in it.It represents the earth’s core of molten lava, flowing and erupting.We have a … CONTINUE READING
My own experience of a new heaven and earth are coming from an app. Yes! Believe it or not ! The award-winning Deep Time Walk App is a tool that “enables anyone, anywhere, to experience a walking audio history of the living Earth.” One of the originators of the app is Stephan Harding. In a … CONTINUE READING
Green Exodus is interested in the long story of the lands we call home. We were honoured to have as our first guest for the Green Exodus, John Snow, Traditional Land, Cultural and Environmental Specialist, Member of the Stoney Tribe, Treaty 7, and an ordained United Church Minister. John gifted us with more of the … CONTINUE READING
I don’t know who God is exactly. But I’ll tell you this. I was sitting in the river named Clarion, on a water splashed stone and all afternoon I listened to the voices of the river talking. Whenever the water struck a stone it had something to say, and the water itself, and even the … CONTINUE READING
Biography – Jess McNally Our Special Guest during January 12 Green Exodus Gathering Jess has been meditating for over 13 years, and spent more than seven studying and practicing Buddhist meditation full time. She began in the Japanese Zen tradition and later shifted to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. During those years, she was ordained as … CONTINUE READING
My place is the off leash area where I walk Rosie. Rosie is a Havanese Poodle with ‘tude’ and a cute bootie! The off leash area is actually a secret Wild Flower Sanctuary, but don’t tell anyone! Read this poem by Wendell Berry. It is hard to have hope. It is harder as you grow … CONTINUE READING