The Textbook of Nature teaches love for your children.
While fishing in a quiet bay, my solitude was disturbed by loud smashing sound under the hull of the boat. I look into the clear water and to my amazement, saw a mother loon, repeatedly torpedoing her body into the 26' long boat with every once of her strength. The boat had accidentally drifted upon her nest. I quickly responded to her demands and moved the boat.
After a forest fire in Yellowstone Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. As he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and as the heat had scorched her small body, the mother remained steadfast. Because she had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings lived.
We were not left here without a manual on how to Love.
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From "World Scriptures":
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
1. Christianity; Romans 1:20
****God and his nature is a self-evident Truth, Seen in Nature, the things of Creation
Truth, Eternal Order that is great and stern,
Consecration, Austerity, Prayer, and Ritual--these uphold the Earth.
May she, Queen of what has been and will be,
make a wide world for us.
Earth, which has many heights and slopes and
the unconfined plain that bind men together,
Earth that bears plants of various healing powers,
may she spread wide for us and thrive.
Earth, in which lie the sea, the river, and other waters,
in which food and cornfields have come to be,
in which live all that breathes and that moves,
may she confer on us the finest of her yield....
Set me, O Earth, amidst what is thy center and thy navel,
and vitalizing forces that emanate from thy body.
Purify us from all sides. Earth is my Mother; her son am I;
and Heaven my Father: may he fill us with plenty....
There lies the fire within the Earth,
and in plants,
and waters carry it;
the fire is in stone.
There is a fire deep within men,
a fire in the kine (female of large animals),
and a fire in horses:
The same fire that burns in the heavens;
the mid-air belongs to this divine Fire.
Men kindle this fire that bears the oblation (offering)
and loves the melted butter.
May Earth, clad in her fiery mantle,
dark-kneed,
make me aflame;
may she sharpen me bright....
Whatever I dig from thee, Earth,
may that have quick growth again.
O purifier, may we not injure thy vitals or thy heart....
As a horse scatters dust, so did Earth, since she was born,
scatter the people who dwelt on the land,
and she joyously sped on, the world's protectress,
supporter of forest trees and plants.
What I [Earth] speak, I speak with sweetness;
what I look at endears itself to me;
and I am fiery and impetuous: others who fly at me with wrath
I smite down.
Peaceful, sweet-smelling, gracious, filled with milk,
and bearing nectar in her breast,
may Earth give with the milk her blessings to me.
Thou art the vessel, the Mother of the people,
the fulfiller of wishes, far-extending.
Whatever is wanting in thee is filled
by Prajapati, first-born of Eternal Order [the first god].
May those born of thee, O Earth,
be, for our welfare, free from sickness and waste.
Wakeful through a long life, we shall become
bearers of tribute for thee.
Earth, my Mother! set me securely with bliss
in full accord with Heaven. Wise One,
uphold me in grace and splendor.
18. Hinduism. Atharva Veda 12.1
The earth was once a human being: Old One made her out of a woman. "You will be the Mother of all people," he said.
Earth is alive yet, but she has changed. The soil is her flesh, the rocks are her bones, the wind is her breath, trees and grass her hair. She lives spread out, and we live on her. When she moves we have an earthquake.
After taking the woman and changing her to earth, Old One gathered some of her flesh and rolled it into balls, as people do with mud or clay. He made the first group of these balls into the ancients, the beings of the early world. The ancients were people, yet also animals. In form some looked human while others walked on all fours like animals. Some could fly like birds; others could swim like fishes. All had the gift of speech, as well as greater powers and cunning than either animals or people.
Besides the ancients, real people and real animals lived on the earth at that time. Old One made the people out of the last balls of mud he took from the earth. He rolled them over and over, shaped them like Indians, and blew on them to bring them alive. They were so ignorant that they were the most helpless of all the creatures Old One had made. Old One made people and animals into males and females so that they might breed and multiply.
Thus all living beings came from the earth. When we look around, we see part of our Mother everywhere.
19. Native American Religions. Okanogan Creation
God's hand has touched even every small blade of grass which grows in the field.... All creatures we see contain God's deep heart and tell the story of God's deep love.
8. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 6-28-5
From "The Holy Way of the Couple (Family)" Book 1 - Chapter 2
5.4. Our attitude toward nature
When you open your eyes in the morning and look at nature, it subtly connects with your original nature and inspires feelings about a new ideal that can sprout forth. On the other hand, you know very well that the more you look at the human world, the more despair and sorrow it arouses in your heart. If the world were populated by people who had not fallen, the value of human beings would not stir up sorrow in the heart of a beholder. Human beings were not created merely to have the value of a blade of grass, a flower or a tree trunk. People were supposed to be noble beings who could not be exchanged for anything in the created world. They were supposed to step forward representing Heaven with incomparable value. (9-97, 1960.4.24)
You should have a mind that contemplates nature that is imbued with the love of God and says, “Could anything precious owned by a king of this world or by some famous person compare with this? Could any antique artifact compare with this? Could a glamorous dress worn by a famous lady compare with this?” Without that kind of heart, we are committing a sin before the natural world without even knowing it. If there is someone who can look at a living being and say, “Can anything produced by human hands compare with this? No matter how great someone may be, could he ever be greater than God?” and value most highly all things created through God’s hard work, he must surely be a child of God. Such a person does not need to pray. He lives with God. God guides people into such a position. (9-174, 1960.5.8)
People will enjoy and take delight in anything that belongs to someone they love. Nevertheless, they do not know how to take delight in all things created by God, whom they should love the most. Can such people become God’s sons and daughters? You are responsible to liberate creation which is sighing and lamenting from its sorrow. You should deeply experience the heart and care that God invested in the creation of even one tree or plant 6,000 years ago. You should have such a heart. So you should be able to shed tears even at the sight of one plant along the road, or holding onto one tree, say, “How lonely you must be to have lost your master!” I myself have wept profusely while grasping a rock; I have shed tears to feel the wind blow. Now, because you have heard my words, you understand why. (9-176, 1960.5.8)
I have gone this way while saying to myself, “The precious things of creation, which God made and which have forged an eternal connection with God, are not cherished as much as national treasures or valuables in some kingdoms today. I will understand that sorrow; I alone must understand.” If you have a heart that says, “I will understand, though all those living on this earth may be ignorant
of it,” your people will be a new people who can rule humankind in the future. This is not a concept but a fact. Where are the people who can value all things of creation more than the family treasures that are handed down over the generations, or more than diamonds, supposedly the most precious stone in the world – so that they hold on to those things and refuse to let them go? Upon seeing those who understand in their hearts what He has created, and who hold those things and shed tears over them, God will say, “My dear children!” (9-176, 1960.5.8)
What is nature? It is an exhibit that God has given us as a gift, something He prepared for the birth of His beloved sons and daughters. Even the song of a bird and a plant growing are decorations prepared to bring beauty into the lives of His beloved sons and daughters. Even the rocks rolling on the road were created as decorations for a nation, since God knew that His sons and daughters would be the owners who would rule over that nation. It is the same with flowing water. God did not want things to be dry and monotonous, so He created things for a prince of dreams and of hope who could look at this infinitely colorful and harmonious garden – this world of love – and inherit it. Hence, we learn from all things of creation. When the male and female birds sing, the lady who owns them should learn from that. You should be able to sing praises for the beauty of the original world of creation, where everything devotes its entire life to establish a world where each lives for the sake of the other. Then, even baby birds will want to come and live in your home. Birds will want to have their young there. (175-186, 1988.4.16)
No matter how precious a work of art in a museum may be, can it have more value than a living work of art? I am asking who has loved this earth, the museum of all things and the work of God, more than God has. I am asking if anyone has loved it more than the museums in his own country. Can you compare a gold crown from the Shilla Dynasty in the museum with a dandelion lying on the road, when that is made directly by God? If there is a king who embodies the heart of such a God and takes care of the creation with a heart that says, “You stand in a position to receive love. I am sorry that I cannot love you from the position of the king for whom the original God could exist,” the tufts of grass will want to follow that king and be with him eternally. This is how people should live. (175-186, 1988.4.16)
5.5. Love nature and love people
You should know how to love nature and love people. You should know that those who cannot love people or love nature cannot love God. Because all things of creation are symbols for God and because people are substantial beings, those who know how to love all things of creation and people will come to love God. (70-181, 1974.2.9)
You should always love nature. You should love nature and love people. You should love people of all five colors in the human race. Would God say, “Oh, I like only white people”? Then everyone would have to wear only white clothes. All white people would have to wear only white clothes, and throw away all their colored clothes. Why would you wear black clothes or colored clothes? That would be a contradiction. (133-28, 1984.7.1)
Even all the elements and the smallest creatures go toward the way of love. They are moving toward being the cells of humankind that can directly contact the love that is one with God. For this reason, we should sacrifice ourselves for the sake of love. We should invest ourselves. Since there is a tradition of pouring out one’s life and possessions in their entirety, lower entities seek to give their whole being for the sake of higher entities. This is not Darwin’s Theory of Evolution but a theory of absorption based on love. The question is how the value of one of the smallest creatures increases as it becomes material to be used in creating the next higher level of value. (204-129, 1990.7.1)
We should feel that all creatures of God are objects of our love. We should be people who can love, and be loved by, even the smallest forms of life, not to mention human beings, as well as everything visible and invisible in heaven. When a bird calls, “Chirp, chirp, chirp” in the morning, instead of saying, “You pesky sparrow, I am trying to sleep late. Why are you chirping?!” say, “Oh, thank you. You came to wake me up. Ha ha, you are telling me that an important guest is coming to see me.” The outlook is different. This is a great thing. (112-219, 1981.4.12)
God created the angelic world at the same time that He created the human world. What kind of world is the angelic world? Only when human beings appear with beauty and fragrance – like blossoms that exist for the sake of bearing one fruit – will the nest of love finally be prepared. Hence, all life starts from there, and all beings that have life can harmonize starting from there. Human beings make this harmony possible. Centered on such people, a myriad of angels in heaven form a subject realm of harmony where they can have give and take with people, as butterflies and bees do with flowers. When that happens, a flowery garden of harmony will surely appear in which God rejoices, people rejoice, angels rejoice and all things are immersed in love. A spring party will then begin. (31-124, 1970.5.3)
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