COP26 – Day 2

May the Holy One open the hearts of all those gathered at COP 26 to listen to the wisdom of the earth.

How surely gravity’s law,
strong as an ocean current,
takes hold of even the smallest thing
and pulls it towards the heart of the world.

Each thing-
each stone, blossom, child-
is held in place.
Only we, in our arrogance,
push out beyond what we each belong to
for some empty freedom.

If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees.

Instead we entangle ourselves
in knots of our own making
and struggle, lonely and confused.

My we begin again, like children,
to learn from earth's wisdom,
because earth is in God’s heart
and has never left.
            From Rainer Maria Rilke
            Book of Hours: Love Poems to God