You Belong to the Living World
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“The soil, the soul, society, and all living things are deeply and intricately related.” — Thomas Berry
Yesterday was Mother’s Day. For some, it was a joyful day. For others, it brought grief, longing, distance, memories, or quiet. Days like this often carry more than one truth at once.
When I woke up, I thought less about the holiday and more about the deeper archetypal meaning beneath it. People have long seen life as maternal. Mother Earth gives, sustains, and feeds us before we even know how to care for ourselves.
Every meal we eat starts with the Earth. Every breath comes from connections we did not make ourselves. Soil, rain, pollinators, sunlight, rivers, forests, fungi, and oceans all play a part. We live within a web of generosity that came before us. Yet we rarely act as if this is true.
Modern culture teaches us to see ourselves as separate, independent, and self-made. We often talk about productivity, achievement, ownership, and growth, but rarely mention the living systems that make our lives possible.
The illusion of separateness is the great spiritual crisis of our time.
Many Indigenous traditions have always remembered this. Christian mystics like Hildegard of Bingen saw creation as full of divine presence and life. Francis of Assisi called the Earth our “sister Mother Earth,” seeing people as part of creation, not above it.
Buddhist traditions also talk about interdependence. Nothing exists by itself. Every life depends on many others. The self we protect is actually connected to air, water, ancestors, workers, ecosystems, and creatures we may never see.
The Earth reminds us of this all the time. A forest does not survive through competition alone. Rivers do not drink their own water. Trees release oxygen they themselves do not need. The mycelial networks beneath forests move nutrients toward weaker trees so the whole ecosystem can remain alive.
It seems that creation is built on relationships.
This makes us ask hard questions about the world we have made.
Much of modern life is built on taking instead of giving back. We take much more than we give. We use the Earth as if it were just an object, not a living community we are part of. By forgetting the world is a gift, we also forget how to live within limits.
Still, Mother Earth keeps trying to teach us.
She teaches patience through the seasons. She teaches humility through the weather. She shows us interdependence through ecology. Every autumn and spring, she teaches both death and renewal.
And she still feeds us. Even now. Even after all we have taken. That might be what touches me most today: the amazing generosity built into creation. It is a generosity we did not earn, and it continues even with our pride, our harm, and our forgetfulness.
The bedrock of spiritual maturity is learning to belong to the Mother again.
We need to stop seeing creation mainly as a resource, property, or background. We should remember that we are creatures too, dependent, vulnerable, and connected to everything else that lives and breathes. Our bodies are literally made of the minerals of Mother Earth/
Remembering this changes how we live in the world. We become more grateful. We consume less. We pay closer attention. Caring for the world feels more natural. And maybe, over time, we start to feel less alone too.
Under all the noise of modern life, the Earth is still trying to teach us the same old wisdom:
You were never separate from the living world.
You belong to it.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
Where do you most feel your connection to the living world?
In what ways has modern life trained you to think of yourself as separate or self-sufficient?
What might change if you approached the Earth less as a resource and more as a relationship?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer For Remembering
Loving Spirit, we confess how easily we forget. We move quickly through the world as though we created ourselves. We consume without noticing the lives, systems, and sacrifices that sustain us. Slow us down. Teach us to see the sacred woven through soil, water, trees, creatures, and one another. Help us remember that we belong to creation and not apart from it. Where we have treated the Earth as an object instead of a living community, awaken us again to reverence. And where we feel lonely or disconnected, remind us that every breath ties us to a much larger web of life. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Belonging Again
Spend time outside today. Do not approach nature as scenery or escape. Simply pay attention.
Notice the movement of the wind. Notice birdsong, insects, shifting light, the texture of bark or soil beneath your feet. Let yourself remember that these lives exist alongside yours and make your life possible.
As you walk or sit quietly, repeat this sentence slowly:
I belong to the living world.
You are not an owner. You are not a consumer. You belong as a participant.
Before you leave, offer one act of reciprocity. Pick up litter. Water something growing. Support a local farmer. Plant something. Donate to an ecological cause. Pause long enough to offer gratitude.
The Earth has spent your entire life caring for you.
Let your life become one small act of care in return.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
My team and I launched a new experiment we are calling “The Commons.” It’s an online space centered around communities of practice: groups of people who share a common concern, set of problems, or passion for a topic, and deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis. Join the community here.
May 11, 2026, 7-8pm ET - “Art as Resistance” on the Commons. My dear friend Rev. Shawna Bowman and their colleague Rev. Anna Kendig Flores are offering an incredible online experience of engaging creatively around the role of the artist in movements for social justice and human rights. In this session they will be exploring collective power, and Shawna will demonstrate creating art with wheat paste (whatever that is…I will be learning with you). I hope you can attend. It’s free and such a gift to your spirit. Register here.
May 12, 2026, 11am ET - FREE WEBINAR - Join me online in conversation with “free range priest” Cathie Caimano as we explore how and why we started using Substack and why a platform like this is essential in our world today as people of progressive faith. Register here.
May 17, 2026 - NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR DEMOCRACY - In a moment when so many communities are feeling the erosion of political voice and representation, this gathering is an invitation to move from concern into collective action. I hope you will consider joining me in Montgomery, AL or attend in other cities as we demonstrate our commitment to justice, dignity, and democratic participation. Learn more and register here: Black Power War Room Day of Action.
May 27, 2026, 12pm ET - FREE WEBINAR - I will be hosting an online experience titled “Reclaiming the Power of Imagination: A live experiential webinar with Jackie Sussman." Jackie, a psychotherapist, author, and leading expert in Eidetic Image Psychology, has spent over forty years helping leaders and individuals unlock creativity, uncover hidden strengths, and move through limiting patterns. During this session, she will lead a live Eidetic process shaped by mythic imagery, offering a direct experience of the work. REGISTER HERE.
October 18-21, 2026 - PREACH! 2026 Conference- I’ll be co-hosting PREACH in Minneapolis with Church Anew, a new gathering for preachers, storytellers, worship leaders, and spiritual communicators navigating what it means to speak with clarity, compassion, and courage in a changing world. If you’ve sensed that the preaching moment has changed and are longing for thoughtful community and renewed imagination for this work, I hope you’ll join us.
I drafted a Strategic Framework for Congregations as we move into the coming years of increased authoritarianism around the world. If interested, you can download it here.
Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…
I get to work with such amazing, creative people. This section is my way of celebrating them—no paid promotions, just joy in what they’re creating.
Perhaps some of you know some women religious who might be interested in this offering: Join Land Justice Futures for our first Summer Read, featuring Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting Our Past and Reimagining Our Future by Patty Krawec! Women Religious Communities (vowed members, lay associates, staff, volunteers, etc.) are invited to come together to deepen on our journey of repair as we consider how our faith is calling us to look anew at the legacy we have inherited and imagine a healing, just future. The series begins on June 29th. Register here.
My colleague, Dr. Tim Eberhart, is offering a summer course that I wish I could take! Regenerative Mission & Ministry: Ecological Practices for Land Repair is a 7-week course for those seeking to integrate eco-theological reflection, earth-based spiritual wisdoms, and regenerative design principles for land repair. Participants will journey as a community of learners through a cultivated curriculum that incorporates selected readings, video instruction, ecological practices, and more aimed at healing social and ecological relations for the sake of mutual flourishing. It starts on June 3, so sign up soon if you’re interested!
The University of Victoria (UVic) offers an online course, A Meta-Relational Approach to AI. The course is designed for participants who are interested in thinking about AI in ways that challenge modernity’s extractive programming patterns in both humans and machines. The next cohort starts in NEXT WEEK. Registrations are open.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.