across many days and asks the Great Spirit to take pity on those around him .
The days go by and he keeps up his vigil , but nothing changes . Though weaker each day , he remains steadfast in his desire to relieve the misfortune that has befallen his community . More days go by and still , there is no change in sight . In spite of this , he does not waiver in his supplication , some say , his sacrifice . At last , he grew so weak that he fell to the ground and expired while emitting a final prayer . It was not long after that corn plants began sprouting from the ground where his body had fallen .
The plants grew with enormous rapidity and soon the entire community gathered around them . The people ’ s hunger was satiated when they reaped the corn ears and prepared them into delicious and nourishing meals which they ate with great relish . From that time on , corn became one of the people ’ s most important staples without their ever forgetting to offer thanksgiving to the bringer of this precious source of food .
What are the lessons in this story that we might apply to today ’ s obvious conditions of human physical and spiritual malnourishment and global ecological ruin ? The most obvious lesson is that human beings and the earth , far from being estranged and distant from each other in their natures , are a single being whether we can see this or not . We cannot harm the earth without harming ourselves and conversely , if we love , revere and appease the earth and the powers of the universe , we increase our own life force while
perfect food stuffs have visited upon the earth than upon any sense of contented joy .
It may be that to restore the ecological fabric of our damaged earth and societies , we may have to move past our accustomed comfort zone and undergo great sacrifices just as did the man of good heart . The upside of this is that we will be remembered by future generations for our courage and willingness to do the right thing in this hour of need .
Alejandro López is a farmer , writer , photographer and experiential educator from northern New Mexico . alej @ cybermesa . com
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looking out for the health and wellbeing of others .
Perhaps a second lesson to be extrapolated from the story is that , if we are to draw nourishment from the living earth , we would do well to invest our whole being and especially our hearts in this nearly miraculous process and not just the wizardry of our current technology run on investor dollars and cheap oil . As we have seen , the latter reductive paradigm of “ squeeze all you can from nature ” has brought us to the “ brink of Boulder ” and a hush at the grocery stores that has more to do with not wanting to know what abuses the procurement of our picturewww . montgomerycountymd . gov / agservices
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