By Leah Rampy
We watch as she dons her shades-of-blue jacket, tucks her long black hair under her helmet, and hoists her gleaming red kayak off the top of her vehicle. I am impressed with the determination with which this young woman approaches the roiling river. Even though I am merely a spectator, the river’s intensity takes my breath away. Caught within high cliffs and giant boulders, the river rushes down from the towering Andes as boiling rapids, powerful currents, and white foam.
“This as a violent river,” I think. But who am I to say? I am watching a documentary. The young woman propelled through the heart of this rock-strewn valley knows the river personally: “From the time I was little, the mountains called to me… raw energy, alive, pristine. The river chose me. River takes care of me. The river loves me.”
The river loves me.
I don’t kayak on rivers, but I am drawn to trees. I read and write about them. I know the myriad gifts they offer to me and the entire living world. I consider trees to be my teachers and soul friends. Yes, I love them. And yet, I had never stopped to ask if they loved me too.
Author Robin Wall Kimmerer tells of leading a workshop where students spoke enthusiasticallyabout their relationship to and respect for nature, sharing freely about how much they loved the earth. Kimmerer asked them, “Do you think that the earth loves you back?” The room went silent.
As good teachers do, Kimmerer pursued the concept with a different question: “What do you suppose would happen if people believed this crazy notion that the earth loved them back?” The floodgates opened. The students all wanted to talk at once.
We sense the richness of that invitation too, don’t we? Our heart’s longing to come more fully into sacred relationship with Creation. The grace of being held within Earth’s love for us.
As we proclaim our love and gratitude for the living world on this Earth Day, might we also ponder this question: What do you suppose would happen if people believed this crazy notion that the earth loved them back?
Adapted from “Earth Loves You,” Reweaving Earth & Soul Substack, 12/29/2025 by Leah Rampy
Leah Rampy, PhD is a writer, speaker, and experienced retreat leader who weaves ecology, spirituality, personal stories, and practices to help others deepen their relationship to the natural world. She authored the award-winning Earth & Soul: Reconnecting Amid Climate Chaos, co-authored with Beth Norcross Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees, and is a frequent speaker on spiritual ecology and leadership in these uncertain times. Leah is the founder and leader of Church of the Wild Two Rivers that meets regularly to deepen spirituality through time in the natural world. She has led over a dozen pilgrimages to sacred places in the US and internationally for the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, where she previously served as the Executive Director and continues to serve as an adjunct staff member. Her essays on living more fully connected to Earth in these uncertain times appear weekly on Substack in Reweaving Earth & Soul.
For more from Leah Rampy check out her upcoming retreat Earth Awareness on April 25, 2026.