Beginning Anew with Mother Earth

As the Paris Summit on Climate Change came to a close this weekend, we recognized that this is not an end point, but rather just the beginning of a new worldwide cooperation that will need our continuous support.

The Paris Agreement recognizes “that climate change represents an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet and thus requires the widest possible cooperation by all countries, and their participation in an effective and appropriate international response, with a view to accelerating the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions.”

We too have reflected on what is needed in the world and our answer, in large part, is gratefulness; the “great-fullness” which allows us to see the wonder, complexity and uniqueness of our home planet along with every one of its human and non-human inhabitants. Gratefulness compels us to honor and care for our environment, recognizing the extraordinary gift that is life on Earth. Part of the mission statement of A Network for Grateful Living holds that “grateful living (is) an engaged mindfulness practice, grounded in both wisdom and science, which supports our ability to see the wonder and opportunity in every moment, and motivates us to act boldly with love, generosity, and respect towards one another, ourselves, and the Earth.” As such, we are eager to join with our sisters and brothers around the world in sharing our energy, resources, connections and insights so that together we might “act boldly” in service to our beautiful planet Earth.

Not a small factor in the degradation of the Earth’s resources is our consumption of far more resources than we need. On an individual level, living simply has an impact.

We offer the following for inspiration, motivation and practice:

Books Related to Simple Living

Appreciating Sufficiency: A Grateful Living Practice

The Story of Stuff

A Small Vessel

The Earth – A Living Creature (NASA video)

Our friends, at Earth Holder’s Sangha, (sangha is sanskrit for a community of practice) have been engaged throughout the climate talks and urge us all to be accountable to hold sacred and preserve our Earth with these calls to action: