Earth Day : A Contemplation

[ Written in honor of the Earth for Earth Day; Monday  April 22 ]

I have no ability to create
Even the smallest part of what this life requires
Yet through each moment
The Earth sustains all life upon it.

The Earth provides everything I need.

This body of mine is composed of elements of the Earth, water, air and energy.

I will look at each
until I see completely
how from birth through death, moment by moment
Life is completely dependent and supported by the Earth.

The Earth elements

This body is made of the elements of the Earth’s crust.
Without these elements, this body does not exist.

No body, no people,no animals, no plants.

Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, Calcium and Phosphorous
These 6 Make up 99% of this body
Trace metals make up the last 1%

I have done nothing to create a single atom of this body
All the building blocks were here long before I was born
Before my grandparents were born
Before the first humans walked upon the Earth.


This body is between 60 and 70 % water.
Without water, in a few days I will die.

Drinking, bathing, washing, flushing, swimming, fishing and growing crops.
Water lies at the center of human life

Our life begins in water
For nine months we live in water, protected by water,
nourished by water.
The brain is 75 % water.
Water courses through the body with every heartbeat,
and falls away with each tear drop.

I can not create a single drop of water to drink
The water was here before I was born
Before my grandparents were born
Before the first humans swam in the waters of the Earth.


We breath about 12 times a minute, more that 6 million times every year.
Without air, we lose consciousness in moments, and die soon after.

The Earth’s atmosphere filters the sun, carries the clouds,
and connects us with everything that breaths and transpires.

The breath I breath in was breathed out by the person next to me,
by the trees and green plants outside,
by every other human, green plant and animal that ever lived.

I can not create a single gulp of air to breath
The air was all here before I was born
Before my grandparents were born,
Before the first humans breathed the air of the Earth.


Without energy there is no life.

The position of the Earth flying through space
Orbits the Sun in a very narrow path,
Earth’s temperate climate
Has much to do with it’s distance to the Sun.

The energy of the Sun,
tempered by the place of the Earth in space,
Comes to us as heat,
as light,
as food,
as fuel.

Our body converts these to chi,
So we move, perceive, digest, breath, talk, remember.

Energy is not ours;
it never belongs to anyone.
Energy endlessly transforms from one form to another,
Continuing as long as we live.

The elements of the body,
Water of the body,
Air in the breath,
Energy itself
All are on loan from the Earth.

How many generations have been born,
lived taking what they needed,
then died,
Giving everything back that was on loan from the Earth
Since the first humans appeared ?

I see that everything that permits life,
Everything that supports life,
Everything that promotes life,
This life,
The life of my parents and grandparents,
my friends,
my children,
The life of every living thing,
Even from before the first humans appeared,
Comes from, by and through the Earth.

For just this moment,
I shall remember my home planet with gratitude,
I shall recall with humble awe
The beauty that these eyes have seen,
The delight that this body has known,
Every experience that ever arose,
Came through the unqualified generosity of the Earth
And the cornucopia of life that lives upon the Earth.


The Earth photo comes from here:

About dominic724

A former seeker starts blogging.
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One Response to Earth Day : A Contemplation

  1. Pingback: Are you hopeful about where your life is going?

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