My apartment is on the second floor, so I don’t see who flings open my front door but I hear the footsteps racing up my stairs. My neighbor appears, breathless with excitement, “Deborah, Deborah, we’re calling all shamans. The tides have just acted wyrdly and the oil rig destined for the Arctic has run aground. We’ve got to support the kayakers praying out there on the water.” She bolts for the door so fast she forgets to tell me where.

I burst into tears of exuberance for miracles. The nature spirits are collaborating with human spirits. We CAN join forces, we can…

I feel as if I’ve contributed in some small way. Three of us went to the beach the day before to Make Artful Prayers, a project of Praying True, and to participate in the Global Earth Exchange, a project of Radical Joy in Hard Times. Added to prayers for the toxic beach and the forced removal of our Japanese American neighbors during WWII, we prayed for the softening of hearts and the opening of minds of all those involved with Arctic oil drilling. We prayed that the kayakers would be safe and be able to honor their commitment to respect and non-violence. We prayed that the corporate conglomerates – which are peopled by people just like us – would experience the surprise of their own cellular wisdom awakening.

At some point soon we have to say NO to more resource extraction, say NO to more ravaging of the forests and fields, say NO to more growth.

Unchecked growth is cancer
whether it’s in our human bodies or the earth body.

As an elder on this planet, I grew up before clear cutting forests and bulldozing wild meadows to build housing developments became the norm. I suffered the anguish of losing the wood beyond my back yard in one day – without warning. I came home from school and it was GONE. The grief for a nine year old dependent on that woodland for “family” was nearly overwhelming. Can you imagine what it was like for the deer and the rabbits and the foxes and the squirrels and the birds of all feathers? Can you imagine what it is like to be forced from your home as a Jew, or a Japanese American, or a Cherokee, or an Aschuar?  On this planet, we rob each other all the time
of our dignity and our birthright
in pursuit of money.

Limitless growth is cancer
whether it’s in our human bodies or the earth body.

My Dad was an advertising man. One of his clients was a coal company. I learned a little about clean coal and dirty coal as a youngster. And I remember wondering about mining. ..digging all those tunnels deep underground. I wondered how the planet could handle the constant extraction – hollowing out for subways and tunnels for cars and draining underground aquifers to quench our thirst. The planet’s surface is a big swiss cheese and I still wonder when she’ll collapse on us.

Last Thursday I attended a lecture by Dr. Guy McPherson   titled: Responding to Abrupt Climate Change. He’s collated data from hundreds of scientists and presents a convincing argument for acknowledging rapid climate change as irrefutable. His bottom line: Life is short even if you live to 117, which was the age of the oldest known human being. You know what she said two weeks before she died: Life is short.

Life is short and our human species time on this planet may be very short compared to other mammals but that’s how it is. Since life is short, he suggests we honor it as the miracle it is while we live it. Choose to love and love some more. Love everything and everyone and make loving relationships your priority because when you die, as we all will, you won’t regret not having purchased the latest gizmo. You’ll regret not having ever told your son that you love him. You’ll regret not having stories… the kind of story made by remembering shared experience, where the first words are: “Remember when we …”

His other suggestion is: live a life of excellence. He said the word excellence needs to be defined by each person. For me excellence relates to integrity. It means I live a life that is congruent with my deepest yearnings, as authentic and transparent and real as I can be. And that feels so good.

Which brings me back to where I began this post: the call for prayers to support the kayakers and the oil rig and the Arctic waters and the call for awakening. Last night I attended a living myth – a gathering of community to welcome back the kayakers and witness their stories. This is the way it happens in the s/hero’s journey. In those myths, the return is honored by the s/hero sharing the boon of his/her travels and the community embracing the s/hero’s transformed Self.

I’ll tell that real life living myth next time.