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| Photo by Stephen Hatch: Sunset, White Sands National Park, NM, March 9, 2023 |
Plato understood that "The Good takes refuge in the Beautiful." Unfortunately, the more domineering aspects of our personalities tend to associate "goodness" with finger-wagging "shoulds" that we then afflict both on ourselves and on others. But guilt is not a long-lasting motivation for effecting change. In the case of care for the Earth, knowing what we "should" do often does not stick with us.
However, when we get in touch with the beauty of the Earth, we feel wooed by Her goodness and naturally want to care for Her as for a beloved. At the same time, Earth's beauty softens us and makes us dissolve into a larger Whole that we then see as our true identity. Taking care of the Earth becomes concern for our larger Self.
As Joanna Macy says, we then realize "World as Lover, World as Self." And THIS, we come to realize, is the most long-lasting motivation for pursuing the Good Path of respect for the Earth.
― Stephen Hatch
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