The following is an excerpt from a piece that Sister Joan Brown, executive director of NMEP-IPL, wrote for The Gallup Independent.

“If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.”  –Meister Eckhart

In this quote mystic, priest and Dominican theologian Meister Eckhart expresses a profound and mysterious truth. Nothing is ours and yet every breath, heartbeat, glass of water or morsel of food from each sunrise are given to each of us. But how can one say thank you?

Fall is the season of “Thank you.” We are entering the week of “Thank you.” We may glibly say these sacred words each day … if we remember, but, this time of year calls us to deeper reflection and renewal. Everywhere we turn, in each moment is a gift of Love. The Qur’an 2:115 is eloquent when it states “Everywhere you turn there is the face of God.” How amazing that God, the face of Love peers through each tree and in each child and touches our tongue in a drink of water. This leads me to wonder if mere words of thanks are enough. True thank you’s, I believe require reciprocity and invite us to multiply a gesture of love. Although we may not feel that what ever gesture we offer is adequate, we must act in reciprocity, it is the way of nature and God’s creation.

In fall the trees give leaves to the earth. The earth welcomes the leaves, as do grubs and earthworms who break down the fallen leaves into soil to nurture the tree to bud in spring and give us leaves, shade and even fruit again. The cycle is continual. Giving, thanking, receiving and giving back.

As humans we have gotten into a bad habit of merely taking. As the UN Climate meeting in Egypt ends this weekend we are reminded that the climate crisis we face is because we have dishonored the cycle of our Sister, Mother Earth, Our Home.  Read full article