A friend sent me an Edward Abbey poem that speaks to deep longings I think we all feel. It triggered my wide-awake allegiance to the Earth, a jolt of recognizing my deep belonging to it.

Are we all reminded, from time to time, of extraordinary things, like our dependence on air and water and beauty? Can we find and hold that sense of belonging? Can we, finally, shape our culture around it? How far we have strayed, how tragically we have lost touch with life in our complicity with blind leadership?

“The love of wilderness is more than a hunger
for what is always beyond reach;
it is also an expression of loyalty
to the earth –
the only home we shall every know,
the only paradise we ever need –
if only we had eyes to see.”

– taken from Edward Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire.”

Rosalie Paul
Brunswick

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