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The whole of creation groans: it groans from pressure, from population, from extraction, from our excesses. We are slowly awakening to these realities, which are almost too deep for words. We see rising sea levels and experience radical changes of weather. We watch species go extinct and mourn over the loss of habitat. We feel in our bones the cry of a planet gasping, and in that cry, we hear the echo of our own groaning. We resonate with the feeling of being pushed too far, of stretching beyond our capacity, of being depleted daily in ways that are unsustainable. Our groans, like the world’s, have been for too long covered over, ignored, and minimized. Our symptoms are misdiagnosed and our complaints rewritten to turn our observations of the unhealthy ethos back onto our own failings rather than indicting the systems we have created.
We have, for years now – decades or more – been fed by society a grifter’s tonic designed to placate us by fulfilling our desires, but our groans continue to erupt. They seem unrelenting despite our drinking the “medicine” of consumerism. Society says take more and all will be well, but it is not well, and it is less well with each excess that we indulge in. We cannot passively wait expecting the spirit to correct our folly as we continue with our voracious appetite to consume the gift of creation. The Spirit is at work through us, and we must listen and act in accordance to her call.
The spirit hears our groans. She hears the needs that are too deep for words, and she is blowing. She reaches out to say, “I hear you. Do you hear you? You are groaning. These are the birth pains of a new way. Do not ignore them. Heed their message.”
At first, birth pains come erratically; falsely medical doctors even say. Professionals often dismiss them as “just Braxton Hicks”. To say they are “false” though, is to discount the body’s process of trying to tell us that birth is coming ever closer and that transformation is near. They are an undeniable message that change is on the horizon and preparations need to be made because these twinges will, in due time, turn into unrelenting contractions, and soon, there will be no turning back. So do not dull your groans. Do not medicate your discomfort. Open yourself to what your body, your heart, and the earth itself is saying. Use what you see, hear, and feel to inform your steps.
In response to the recognition of these pressures, we have to re-learn to listen to the wisdom that modern society tries to quell in us and distract us from. We have to re-learn to see the signs that society has become an expert at disguising. We need to recognize when society is trying to draw our attention elsewhere so we will not notice its bias and benefit in the status quo. We do not want to be like women on the A&E or Lifetime tv specials who go through 9 months of pregnancy without even realizing they are pregnant. We need to listen more intently and learn to trust what we hear. The spirit hears our groans and that of the earth, but do we? Are we paying attention? Are we willing to make changes?
As we listen more deeply, may what we hear what the Spirit speaks and may what we hear spur us into action. May we again learn to trust our own intuition, and thereby, work with the Creator to restore the world and heal humanity.
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