Welcome to the EarthCare Module on "Wisdom."
Unit Focus: The Unity spiritual power of Wisdom is intuitive knowing, spiritual intuition, the voice of God within as the source of understanding, and mental action based on the Christ Truth within. Wisdom includes judgment, discrimination, intuition, and all the departments of mind that come under the head of knowing. This knowing capacity transcends intellectual knowledge. Spiritual discernment always places wisdom above the other faculties of the mind and reveals that knowledge and intelligence are auxiliary to understanding.Each year we experience the wisdom of nature in the turning of the seasons and the incredible life forces of all of Earth’s species. Through our divine faculty of Wisdom, we can learn to hear the holy scripture of nature, enhancing our spiritual growth and development.
- Demonstrate understanding of Wisdom as a spiritual principle.
- Identify Wisdom expressed in the living components of our world – vegetation and wildlife.
- Identify links between Wisdom as a spiritual principle and the human interaction with nature and the whole of creation.
- Use the Wisdom expressed by nature to reveal lessons that will enrich our lives.
- Integrate the spiritual principle of Wisdom as related to Earth/Creation care into Unity services and teachings
I am one with the power of Divine Wisdom, discerning care for creation in all my choices, words, and actions. The truth of Divine Order is at the center of all things, and my Highest Self guides me in wise decisions and actions. I am imbued with the power of wisdom and discernment in all my choices, words, and actions.
I claim now the innate wisdom that is my birthright. I open to Truth, and the guidance of Creator/Source/God/my Highest Self in knowing wise action. I know what is mine to do and what isn’t. I yield my human-only thinking and allow the Divine to direct. I affirm the emergence of Divine Wisdom in humanity, healing and balancing in our individual and collective actions toward one another and all beings on Earth. I give thanks for Divine Wisdom. Amen.
The Divine Wisdom Way
By Kathy Harwood Long
Have you questioned what is yours to do for the earth, or for the earth’s creatures, water, and air? At minimum, you’ve probably wondered. At maximum, you may have chosen to adjust your way of living, investing time, energy, dollars, and hopes. Increasingly I hear folks express confusion about what choices are most effective for the planet, unsure that anything we do is actually helping address the multiple systems involved in global warming, etc. Scientific and societal views seem caught in divisive discourse, but you and I can aspire to a spiritual view, claiming our divine design and, thereby our capacity and power to emerge from our current confusion and delusions.
This morning walking the beach in Oregon, I imagined all the many streams of water that flow into the great ocean. Streams do not debate about right or wrong choices but flow according to the design of water, ever pouring down to meet the seas and ocean only to evaporate, form clouds, and again pour forth upon the earth. We might think of this as the wisdom of the design of water. Similarly, the Divine is our design, and the Divine Design is our great wisdom.
The Divine, known as God, Father/Mother, Allah, Great Spirit, or Universal Principle, is our Divine Design for living. The Divine flows, moves, and rests, according to Its design which is to express the Divine in and through, as and for, all life and the living of life. Understanding Divine Wisdom can assist us during this time of epochal change on the planet when much-desired quick results and global cooperation seem improbable.
A conversation with Wally Amos when I was newly ordained and working diligently to make a difference in the world serves to this day to highlight the Divine Wisdom Way. At that time, Wally was known as the founder of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies, but he was also a television personality and spoke at Unity churches, including my own. I’ve never forgotten the wisdom story he shared as we walked and talked, exploring the pressing issues of our time. One morning on his daily walk along the Pacific Ocean, he encountered hundreds of beached fish flopping in the sand. As he began to throw fish back into the ocean, a bystander challenged Wally’s choice to save a few fish: “What difference will that make?!” Wally was clear in his response as he threw another fish to the ocean, “It made a difference to that one.”
Divine Wisdom is the power in you and me to make choices on behalf of all life. Choosing to consciously and progressively support creation, even without the assurance of efficacy, reveals a rightness within, a sense of alignment with the truth of one’s own being. We may not see the effects of our simple daily choices that include care for creation, but choices for all life are the evidence of Divine Wisdom realized.
Lesson Engagement
This pre-recorded talk is available for your personal use or for viewing in your congregation (in-person or online). The speaker is Rev. Sharon Ketchum. She can be reached here.
Content by: Author Rev. Sharon Ketchum
Content by Rev. Kathy Harwood Long & Rev. Liesa Chase
The Rights of Nature movement is gaining traction. So far, legally binding rights have been granted to several rivers, lakes etc., which means that the rights and well-being of those entities must be taken into account when any human activity, such as construction, etc. is being considered. Recently, a mayor in a suburb in Costa Rica made bees, bats, and birds fellow citizens. Meanwhile, sea turtles in Panama got legal rights to live in an environment free from pollution and poaching. Last year Spain recognized legal personality to its coastal saltwater lagoon ̶ Mar Menor, and India recognized that Mother Nature has the same legal status and rights as a human being. This is a wise and perhaps hopeful trend.
Books
All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (Editor), Katharine K. Wilkinson (Editor)
Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit by Lyanda Lynn Haupt
Sacred Instructions by Sherri Mitchell
“The Great Conversation; Nature and the Care of the Soul” by Belden C. Lane. Oxford University Press, 2019.
The author is Professor Emeritus of Theological Studies, American Religion, and History of Spirituality at St. Louis University. He develops a profound relationship with a special tree, from which he derives more wisdom than he ever imagined possible. There are teachers in the natural world all around us; we need to become better listeners.
Videos:
Being Responsible by Kern Beare
Fantastic Fungi film trailer
The Biggest Little Farm film trailer
Quotes
“Nature is surely the glorified face of God. See the beauty about you and…see the manifestation of the infinite Mind.” – Myrtle Fillmore
“Nature is calling to us all the time, and every time we connect with a plant or an animal, we align with the sacred intelligence of our magnificent, brilliant Mother Earth. It’s a way in. Our Mother Earth is wise and brilliant. The Earth has deep intelligence, and if we can align with that intelligence, we will be part of the Earth healing herself, and we will be directed to do what we need to do.” – Jolie Elan
“Instead of a heaven after death the new Christianity teaches a kingdom of the heavens existing now as a righteous state of mind. It teaches that man makes his heaven here and now by the formative power of his thought.” -- Jesus Christ Heals, by Charles Filmore
“All things in this creation exist within you, and all things in you exist in creation; there is no border between you and the closest things, and there is no distance between you and the farthest things, and all things, from the lowest to the loftiest, from the smallest to the greatest, are within you as equal things. In one atom are found all the elements of the earth; in one motion of the mind are found the motions of all the laws of existence; in one drop of water are found the secrets of all the endless oceans; in one aspect of you are found all the aspects of existence.” -- Kahlil Gibran
“A good deal of trouble has been caused in the world by too much intelligence and too little wisdom.” – Unknown
“The greatest gift of wisdom you can give to others is the gift of your wise realization that within them is the source of all they need to understand, to grow, to find right and happy direction.” -- Listen Beloved, by Martha Smock
“Receptivity to wisdom is cultivated in meditative prayers. It cannot be forced. One must wait and desire it deeply.” -- More Power To You, by Charles Roth
Other
“The Cantigee Oracle; an Ecological Spiritual Guide and Creative Prompt Deck.“ Rae Diamond and art by Laura Zuspan. North Atlantic Books, 2022.
The cards in this deck are round, emblematic of the natural world, and beautifully illustrated. Great for individuals or a small group activity as the prompts for each card immerse us in nature, providing a variety of insights into each topic chosen.