iMMERSING

In The Earth Speaks I shared a story about St. Francis of Assisi who suddenly began ringing the church bell late one night in his village. When the awakened townspeople rushed to the tower to see what was wrong, St. Francis called down to them to look up, right then, at the beautiful moon overhead. Shut up inside their homes they had been missing one of the earth's supreme treasures.

We need bellringers like this in earth education. We need to awaken people to the marvels and mysteries of daily life that they are missing. However, there is a bit more to it than that. If we are going to help people build a joyous relationship with the earth again, we have to accomplish three major objectives. First of all, like St. Francis, we have to get people out there, only a bit farther away. You cannot accomplish what we are talking about inside most cities. You have to be "immersed" among the wild and growing things, in direct contact with the elements of life. Next, we have to help people take in more of what's around them out there. Lots of folks have gone someplace where they were closer to the natural world, but never really touched, or were touched, in turn, by it. Walking along on an asphalt path chattering away about something else will not get the job done. And finally, we have to make sure people have a good time while they are there. We want people to remember their experience as a joyous one. It will not do us much good if they decide it was not fun, and they don't want to go back.

Continue... The WAYS: Relating

Earth Education... A New Beginning Copyright © 1990 The Institute for Earth Education. All Rights Reserved.