Author, Professor, Botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer asked her students this question one day: You love nature but do you think that nature loves you back? Her students, all very respectful of the earth, had never thought about it that way. I bet most of us haven’t either!

Kimmerer writes, “Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond.”

I love Kimmerer’s perspective, since it is both scientific and spiritual. I learned a lot from her book “Braiding Sweetgrass.” I invite you to join me in contemplating how the earth takes care of you, especially when you take care of it.