At Spirit Tree Farms, we’re on a personal and collective mission to find peace in nature, find nature joy, be grateful to our Creator for the beauty and lessons we see every day, and to learn vital life and spiritual lessons from Mother Earth and the Divine which will help heal us, others, and the Earth itself.
Of equal importance is our desire to help others feel and find that peace, to set patterns and model what we’re learning, and to give others opportunities to learn and experience that divine, nature-centered peace, security, safety and joy.
Core Concepts to Find Peace In Nature
As we present the concepts we learn, several core ideas seem to keep coming up. They include:
- Working with the Earth is not just a stewardship. Our actions need to be a partnership. Why? Being a steward implies we have the answers. We know what is best. But we don’t. Instead, being a partner with the Earth and its Creator means we work together. We try solutions. We listen. We learn.
- Earth / Nature has the answers, but we as humans need to listen. Too often, we think we know best what the Earth needs, so we use our science and wisdom to try to “fix” the earth’s natural problems. Often, though, the Earth is just waiting for us to listen to what she wants us to do. This is especially true in small-scale solutions.
- Sharing the experience of love, peace and joy from nature is much more effective than making people feel guilty for not doing earth-healing practices a certain way (“Watch this sunset with me” joy-sharing versus “How dare you!” guilt tripping.)
- Finding peace in Nature is possible. (Marnie’s book on that subject not only shows how she / we find peace in Nature, but also models how others can as well.) In fact, it is a practice and skill we all can develop and share.
- #FindNatureJoy requires individual effort, just like playing a musical instrument. Yet, when we share the ways we #FindNatureJoy with others, like an orchestra it can create a beautiful symphony of peace, happiness, joy, and understanding, where the final product is greater than the sum of its parts.
- Listening to and working with the Earth requires humility and the willingness to be taught and learn from a variety of sources and resources.
- The Earth is God’s and Jesus Christ’s creation. We are part of that creation. Because They desire us to have peace, we can find peace in Nature, if we work at it. When we find that peace, it becomes easier for us as individuals and as communities to change the world, instead of waiting for the world to change.
- While solving the Earth’s issues may be encouraged by governments and national / international policy changes and actions, we each must take individual responsibility. Waiting for governments and groups to change the world is abdicating our individual responsibility, and is lazy.
- Partnering with the Earth requires individual action and attention.
- Helping the Earth is not a contest. What works in Catoosa County, Northwest Georgia, may be completely wrong in Oshkosh, Wisconsin; Vashon Island, Washington; Nordfold, Norway; or anywhere else. There is no “best way every way” solution.
- Because there are no absolute solutions, we should be patient and kind to each other, and to ourselves, as we work and learn together.
- Solutions to help heal the Earth, because they are individual and local, can be studied and modeled. The concept of “best practices” that works so well in lean manufacturing, can work in helping the Earth to heal. We can learn from, mimic, copy, adopt, and adapt what others are doing.
- As we adopt, adapt, and study what works and what doesn’t, in our own areas, we can develop even better solutions that we can share with others.
- Since healing the Earth and finding peace in Nature is such an individual effort and learning, and because this effort is not a contest, we need to follow John Lennon’s thought: “We’re all doin’ what we can.”
- Size doesn’t matter, especially when it comes to finding peace in Nature and creating valuable connections with Mother Earth. Doug Tallamy’s HomeGrownNationalPark.org Get On The Map! is a great example of this. It doesn’t matter if we plant strips of wildflowers to draw in pollinators on our family farm in the Midwest, or if we have a few plants growing in buckets on a patio, porch, or rooftop in Harlem or West Seattle. We are loving the Earth as we connect ourselves (#biophilia) to the Earth, AND we are joining a larger movement to connect and create a patchwork quilt pathway of #biodiversity that supports and grows Nature.
- No regrets. The Earth is very forgiving. If we plant something, or weed something, or try something that doesn’t work, we don’t bemoan our failure. We learn from it. We ask for suggestions from others (and from the Earth and the Creator), we listen, and we try to do better.
- Just as we shouldn’t apply guilt to others, we also shouldn’t apply guilt to ourselves. IF we are doing, then we can assume we are all doing the best we can.
- It’s never too late. There is the old adage: “When is the best time to plant a tree? 20 years ago. When is the next best time? Today.” Instead of saying: “We should have done this before,” let’s say: “THIS is the day the Lord hath made. Rejoice and be glad in it, and let’s go do something NOW!”
- The work of Creation is not finished. God did not just create the Earth, Nature, us, and then walk away, like an artist finishing a painting. Instead, as the early Celtic Christians taught, He invites us to be partners with the Earth, to help heal the Earth AND to receive healing from and through Nature.
Find Peace in Nature: A Creative Learning Process
Do we at Spirit Tree Farms have all the answers? No. We don’t even know all the questions! Can we always access peace on our property? Unfortunately, not yet. Is this list complete and comprehensive? Not even close. In fact, we hope that this will be a starting point for discussion, and that people will want to submit ideas: “I find peace in Nature when I … “. We expect the list to grow and expand. After all, part of being involved in creation — especially the Creation of the Earth — means we all learn, grow, expand our understanding, and share our discovered wisdom and experience with joy, compassion, selflessness, and love.
Just like Mother Earth.
