Another way to say this is, “The Earth is listening: she sees our human dilemma, and she is calling us to pay attention.” Giving respect for what has been given to you. Have you ever noticed that if someone lends you something or asks you to hold something, the feeling of ownership kicks in? This is a current problem in the hearts of many. What do we own? What did we create? Earth is always exhausting itself and replenishing, and we are her beneficiaries. Might awareness and a change of heart help us find the courage to open ourselves to deepening care? The Planet is speaking. Her new Book, Prayers for Mother Earth, explores how to gather for Gratitude, Compassion, Repentance, and Guidance.
Description
Ancient prayer traditions and contemplation have been passed down from generation to generation and remain alive today. Mary Jane Miller, author of Prayers for Mother Earth: Gratitude, Compassion, Repentance, and Guidance, believes that recitations of love and reflection, alone or in a group, are powerful, nurture the soul, fuel the heart, and uplift the spirit.
While we focus a great deal on human needs – the sick, isolated, aged, imprisoned, and those in peril – Miller tells us that it is prudent to add our devotion and respect for the Sacred as revealed on the Earth. Our contemporary society generally doesn’t encourage us to pause long enough to appreciate our delicate, at times imperceptible, relationship to the natural order that surrounds us.
Process and Faith invites Miller to introduce us to her book, Prayers for Mother Earth.
The book is designed as a resource and guide to focus the mind and heart on one another and Mother Earth as The Planet is speaking to us. In an age of great fear and anxiety, resources like these may be a tool to help us slow down and reflect on how we have participated in the crisis we are in, our consumerism, our desire for more, and our total disregard for the Earth, our home.
Process theology and philosophy have long encouraged to re-imagine our relatedness to the Earth and to each other. Alfred North Whitehead described our bodies as lying “in the field of nature” and questioned the cultural bifurcation that continues to separate us from our earthly home. Miller argues that a powerful sense of grace is revealed as we gather for the sacramental petition, communal prayer to promote a shift in our attitude toward Mother Earth: “The Earth is listening, she sees our human dilemma, and she is calling us to pay attention.” In this book, Mary Jane Miller gives us words to cry out and reflect, in unison, with gratitude, repentance, compassion, and guidance for the Earth’s preservation. Her text responds with Earth speaking back to us.
Interview with Mary Jane Miller Process and Faith
“If we learn to treasure the wonder of humanity, we will love the natural world that surrounds us. If we treasure the natural world, we will love humanity in all its magnificent div
Bio
Mary Jane Miller is an internationally recognized Byzantine-style iconographer and author living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She is a member of Women Iconographers in the 21st Century, who are preserving the ancient technique of iconography painting. Today, she continues to create, teach, and expand this sacred art using earth pigments as a spiritual visual language that leads to enlightenment.
Miller especially focuses on biblical women and, through her hand, calls on their unheard voices to proclaim their wisdom and love. As an icon painter, her wealth of insight is shared through a tradition that has traditionally been male-dominated. “I have come to see the world as a metaphor, nearly everything which happens to us is screaming to be understood through the eye of the spirit, we just need to reflect long enough to hear the message”.
Her dedication and lifestyle promote a trajectory through spirituality that becomes a visual manifestation of how she understands her own personal journey. Her work may be found at https://sanmiguelicons.com/