There’s a remarkable exhibit at the Morgan Library in New York. Called “She Who Wrote,” it is about Enheduanna, a high priestess of Inanna, the fertility goddess of ancient Mesopotamia, and the role of women at that time, before and after. The earliest deities were female, and were connected to the cycle of life.
The people of the ancient city states not only worshipped fertility goddesses but respected their commands to care for the environment they inhabited. Although we no longer believe in them, their commands still call for a response from us today.
This past year has seen a dramatic decline in wildlife populations, animals, fish, and birds. Polar bears and manatees are both starving due to both neglect and greed. The ancients knew that if they did not respect the environment, they would not survive. It’s a lesson that we in this day and age should learn and live by.
Prayer for the Day
Your steadfast love extends to the heavens, O God,
May we reflect that love in our care for the earth;
You are as high as the mountains and as deep as the sea,
May we find you in all those places.
Remove from us the desire for wealth and more goods,
For both will rust and are only temporal.
In the name of the One who teaches what is really important,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The initial step or a soul to come to knowledge of God is contemplation of nature.
- Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon (130-202)
I did not intend my creatures to make themselves servants and slaves to the world’s pleasures. They owe their first love to me. Everything else they should love and possess, as I told you, not as if they owned it, but as something lent them.
- Catherine of Siena, mystic, from The Dialogue (1347-1380)
Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.
Before I was humbled I went astray, but now I keep your word.
You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.
Psalm 119: 66-68