I get what you're saying about reverence and awe, and how that's different from celebration. One of the most affectingly human experiences I've had was when I was 14 and my friends' mother died in a car accident. We went to their home, as did many other friends from our church (adults and teens), and when we arrived, their house was overflowing with people, surrounding the kids who wailed openly in the street. It was the most honest display of grief I've ever been part of. Other than giving birth, I've never had a more fully embodied experience.
I guess this might eventually covered by the class, but... When you address the river with a “Hail”, does the river... respond?
I guess what I’m trying to get at, in your view, what is the purpose of engaging with aspects of nature as a living person? Is it simply that it is beneficial for us as humans to behave _as if_ the river is a person? Or is the river in fact a person? But even is she is, how can we have any hope of communicating with her? How can she understand our greeting? And how can she greet us back in a way that we can be sure we aren’t just projecting our own wishes onto a river who is otherwise uncaring and unconcerned?
You are gifted, and a gift.
I get what you're saying about reverence and awe, and how that's different from celebration. One of the most affectingly human experiences I've had was when I was 14 and my friends' mother died in a car accident. We went to their home, as did many other friends from our church (adults and teens), and when we arrived, their house was overflowing with people, surrounding the kids who wailed openly in the street. It was the most honest display of grief I've ever been part of. Other than giving birth, I've never had a more fully embodied experience.
I guess this might eventually covered by the class, but... When you address the river with a “Hail”, does the river... respond?
I guess what I’m trying to get at, in your view, what is the purpose of engaging with aspects of nature as a living person? Is it simply that it is beneficial for us as humans to behave _as if_ the river is a person? Or is the river in fact a person? But even is she is, how can we have any hope of communicating with her? How can she understand our greeting? And how can she greet us back in a way that we can be sure we aren’t just projecting our own wishes onto a river who is otherwise uncaring and unconcerned?