Green Desert Sanctuary 7.27.14

Good morning. Happy Sunday!

Another hard week, and I have to say, it is getting to me. At one point (yesterday) I considered, and even went so far as to write and post a blog giving up the church farm blog. I later deleted it, because I am not absolutely sure that is the right path to follow.

So here I am, stuck in this dark place, wondering how do I pull myself out? Certainly the petty concerns of living off grid in a camper are bringing me down while I forget to look at the bigger picture and focus on the goals.

What are the goals? I ask myself. Why are we here? The Horse led me here, but then it seems I was left alone to figure it out myself. The spirits have been quiet, but maybe I am not communicating with them either. It is always a two way street and communication takes both parties. I will try harder.

When we envisioned ourselves in this place, we saw an oasis in the desert, built from our hands, hard work and lots of love given to the Earth, to one another and to the plants and animals we bring into this space. We never anticipated the roadblocks we would encounter, or that the money would run out, or that we would not be able to get shelters built before winter set in. Sure, we knew it would be hard, be we didn't really understand how difficult it is for four people to live in such a tiny space, with little privacy or alone time.

And still, we want to retrofit a cabin/shed into a tiny house, knowing we will have to overcome and work out our issues with each other. It is a teachable/learn-able situation and I am grateful for the opportunity to become stronger and more compassionate with myself and with others. I do worry that I will even be able to do this thing.

We are growing Industrial Hemp, because we believe this one plant has the ability to save the planet and mankind. It can provide energy, building materials, food, medicine, clothing, bedding, fuel, and on and on the list goes. It is a miraculous plant that comes to us in dire times, when we need it most. I'd like to see everyone growing hemp. It neutralizes the carbon we are putting out into the atmosphere. If we let it, and use hemp as intended, we can turn this train wreck (humanities eminent extinction) around. Lets' be honest though and take the ego out of the equation, and fear along with it. Cannabis (yes the THC variety) also has many, many beneficial uses, the most important possibly is its ability to cure dis-ease. It also brings people closer to spirit and closer to each other in a path of love and harmony.

I had hoped that our Eco-based environmental church would begin to take off, but honestly, I'm not sure where to start with that. Perhaps we should hold some kind of ceremony here and invite local people to come and participate. That presents yet another problem. I am an introvert and am afraid of drawing much attention to myself. I am not sure why I feel called to create this church, except that my love of this planet far exceeds my fears (at least in the abstract). I have been disillusioned by religion for most of my life and could not reconcile my disbelief of most western religions with my desire to live a spiritual life.

Now, I understand the focus of the belief is less important than how people actually live their lives. I'm not concerned with what god figure people worship, as long as we all learn to live in love and have compassion for one another and for our Mother Earth. Drastic changes have to be made if humanity is to move forward into the next generations. I do not want to leave my children with this sick and unhappy planet. I do not want to leave my children with the monumental task of cleaning up after previous generations who were so eager to deplete the planet of all resources at any costs. At any costs.

I began this church, and Richard lends his support, in the hope that people could turn their spirituality into one that includes and perhaps focuses on healing the planet we live on. We must learn how to live in harmony with nature, and yes, that also includes living in harmony with each other. All people have equal value. I don't care where you live or what you do. I don't care about your past and the future is untold. Everyone writes their own story. I do care about my children (all children are my children, as they are yours) having a future with clean air, clean water, clean food and a beautiful place to live. I care about transforming this world of hate and competition into one of love and compassion. I do care about teaching everyone to live more simply and take less from our Mother Earth. I do care about the survival of the human species, as well as the thousands of other species mankind is pushing to extinction. I do care about the plants being pure and natural and about the food we eat being chemical free and unaltered from the form Nature intended it to take.

This church is my attempt to bring people together--people who also feel the strong pull to make a difference and a change as humanity moves forward. This is a church based in love--love for all people and all things, including the Earth, the Universe, and All That Is. This church is a sanctuary for people to just come and be and learn and teach and do what small things we can to heal each other and the Earth we live on. This church exists online to join people together who are not in physical proximity, but still want to form a fellowship around Eco-spirituality. This church exists in the physical to allow people to join together to learn and teach and experiment with methods that will help humanity learn to live in harmony with Nature. This church exists to serve as a reminder that the Earth is our Mother and without our precious, life-giving and life-sustaining planet, we have nothing left. We will all simply cease to be, and as humanity walks itself down the road to extinction, it will not be pleasant. There will be suffering, there will be so much pain and unhappiness. There will be countless, unnecessary loss of life. It does not have to be this way. This church is just one small effort to lend my own energy, and anyone else's energy who wants to join, to this monumental effort to save the planet and to save humanity from itself.

Join me. Join us. Together we can make a difference. Together we can learn how to live and move forward with our focus on love and compassion and living in harmony with respect for our Great Mother Earth.

Become a part of Green Desert Sanctuary. Lend your voice to our cause. Teach us. Come and learn with us. Let us be One in our efforts and let us share our good energy as we work towards creating a planet of love and compassion where clean air, clean water, clean food, adequate shelter, and education are available to all. These are human rights, for all peoples everywhere.

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Love to all!

~Rev. Kerry

Eco-spirituality (10.20.13)

Good morning. Happy Sunday!

Eco-spirituality. What is it? It is the connection between science based ecology and spirituality. It is not generally political in nature, although many eco-spiritualists find themselves standing up for the rights of the planet and all living things on it.  

Eco-spiritualists hold the Earth and all living things in reverence and realize all are one in the wholeness of the Universe, and one with all things, both living and non-living. People are a part of the great web of life, and the Earth is a living entity in it’s own right, both divine and scientifically based.

Eco-spirituality suggests that environmentalism can be practiced as a religion and that it is our responsibility to live, work and play in sustainable ways, holding both life and Nature sacred in all that we do.

All people are equal with the simple rights to have basic needs met, such as access to food, water and shelter. Profit should never be put before people or before the good of the planet. All of our actions should be well thought out and the ramifications considered before we decide to exploit any resources, including living beings.

Humans are an intricate part of the natural world, and eco-spirituality aims to explore how to reconnect people with the Earth so that the continuance of the human species is assured, in conjunction with healing and restoring the planet, as well as learning to live in environmentally conscious and sustainable ways, leaving a positive impact on life and nature.

There is a divineness inherent in all things and an underlying reality to the Universe that is not bound by the concrete and fabricated ideas of mankind.

In a time when global warming has reached epic proportions, and the future of the planet and all living things are in question as a result of man made climate change, a new gospel needs to be preached around the globe, and eco-spirituality holds within its multi-faceted belief system the answers to build a new religion based upon environmentalism.

All religions that hold Nature as sacred embrace the tenets of eco-spirituality. Let’s work  together to create an even stronger eco-bond that allows the very ideas of environmentalism to shine forth in a new paradigm that allows us to come together and worship our planet Earth, all living things, and the entire Universe as one being, and in so doing, consciously decide to live in ways that are congruent with nurturing life and the sacredness of the world we live in.

Eco-spirituality allows us all an opportunity to “get back to nature” to relearn the gentler ways to live on the planet while fulfilling our own needs and sharing community with all of Nature around us.

We have a sacred connection to Nature and the Earth, and as we realize our own spiritual ties to the planet that sustains and supports us, we will begin to heal--not only our beloved planet Earth, but ourselves and our living communities.

~Rev. Kerry