The moral covenant of reciprocity calls us to honor our responsibilities for all we have been given, for all that we have taken. It's our turn now, long overdue. Let us hold a giveaway for Mother Earth, spread our blankets out for her and pile them high with gifts of our own making. Imagine the books, the paintings, the poems, the clever machines, the compassionate acts, the transcendent ideas, the perfect tools. The fierce defense of all that has been given. Gifts of mind, hands, heart, voice, and vision all offered up on behalf of the earth. Whatever our gift, we are called to give it and to dance for the renewal of the world. In return for the privilege of breath.
Peace is a force -- positive, purposeful, possessed of a definite and sure dynamic; there is no mistaking its presence and action. It touches the jangling thoughts of the human word "peace" spoken by one who is possessed of peace, releases a force whose movement tends to establish rhythmic harmony and restfulness. ... In all ways peace is good and produces good. It comes forth from "the tree of life -- and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."