The Genesis…

Posted by notm8346 in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

The genesis of www.notmuchelsematters.com (NMEM site still under construction) began with an email I received from BMW announcing the introduction of their new fuel efficient car. It was a contest to win a fuel efficient Beemer and they asked for a essay about how I was contributing to sustainability. Other than separating trash, I thought…not much. I did enter the contest and typed in a few words, Earth, Air, Water and One Another…Not Much Else Matters, and clicked send. I’m still waiting for delivery of the Beemer.

A very good friend asked…”What do you mean…nothing else matters? What about gold?” Last I knew, it’s in the earth. As a matter of fact, everything that we are comes from earth, air and water. Regardless of your view of world origin, earth, air and water are gifts. They sustain life and we need to be good stewards of those gifts, protect them and preserve them for future generations.

What about God? That’s the “one another” part. I write from the Christian perspective and Christianity promises some other place in the afterlife…God’s Kingdom. I hope that is true. For me, hope is the leading edge of faith and the promise of eternal life is intoxicating. But that is the then, what about the now? Most faith systems talk about the manner that we should relate to one another…family, friends and quite frankly, everyone who exists. I saw a Dennis Miller show on HBO recently and loved his closing. He said (paraphrase), we don’t have to love one another or even like one another, but, we should care about other human beings at least as much as we do about the endangered caribou or polar bear.

This site when fully developed is intended to be a forum or a blog spot for other’s to share their views on what really matters. A word of caution about blogs…I’ve heard it said that some blogs are nothing more than graffiti with punctuation marks. Unless you want to contribute to the discussion in a constructive way…please move on.

I plan on offering some merchandise with the NMEM logo, hats, tee and sweat shirts, etc., on this site. We will forward a portion of the proceeds to a worthy charity or organization. When someone buys something there will be a space on the order blank to specify what organization they would like to receive the donation.

Be well, take care of the environment…and more importantly…one another.

4 Responses to The Genesis…

  1. Cynthia says:

    The border is nice! When will you break out the entire logo?

    • notm8346 says:

      Thanks for comments. I wish politicians in DC cared about one another in the broader sense rather than special and self interest.

  2. Cynthia says:

    I do think this is cool and has potential!

  3. Reflection on Your Post and Genesis: The Great Story

    First written August 14, 2012: Genesis Farm, Blairstown, New Jersey
    What does the Earth want of us now? What does she call us to?

    We are the story of ourselves. The story of ourselves is that we are a communion of subjects. Earth is primary– humans derivative. Nothing is itself without everthing else.

    I have had a week of learning, practicing and honoring, breathing and drinking the earth of this place. My greatest understanding of this is yet to come and I know it will be in the communion of all those who are seeking the wisdom of Earth, our Mother.

    I recall Allan Watts telling us long ago that we didn’t come into this world. We came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. We really aren’t strangers here. But I think we have built an estrangement around us that causes us daily sorrow and anger. I found a poem by Denise Levertov called To Speak.
    To speak of sorrow
    works upon it
    moves it from its
    crouched place barring
    the way to and from to soul’s hall ….

    The hard news comes from the sorrow of knowing that about two hundred years ago, a fairly recent piece of time, our ancestors made a choice of identity, a bad one, and it continues. People used to live in a mutually enhancing relationship with the Earth. Knowing what we know and keeping our old bad world view of constant industrial growth, polluting our ecosystem, killing our plants and wildlife, is a form of schizophrenia.

    The water I drink each day in this place is so pure. It is from the same spring that feeds the Delaware River. It has been purified by ancient limestone, a gift, a grace from Earth. This same water is coursing through my blood and the blood of thousands of Earths’ creations, giving life and creativity to all she touches. We can see it, taste it, give love and gratitude as we speak and act. Earth has given us the gift of speech and action. She has shared her genes so that we can speak, sing, act from gratitude, compassion and love.

    We can move through the sorrow and anger together. We can move and speak in communion. We can, as humans, working in institutions, professions, and programs, ask that we be judged by the extent to which they inhibit, ignore, or foster a mutually enhancing human-Earth relationship.

    To practice this we must learn to experience the universe as our Great Self, the individual self experiencing the energy that the universe has been creating through the centuries.

    We have much to do and there is no time to waste.

    Come and celebrate and let us act together.

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