Lori Dueck, Victoria, BC

In my opinion attending an event such as “Celebrate our Sacred Universe” would be beneficial for all especially as we live in this computer age. I observe in my daily life, that a lot of people are unaware of their surroundings as their faces are in their cell phones. There is a lack of conversations with other people and the environment.

God is constantly communicating with us through nature. If only we would slow down, look, listen, and take a deep breath in, observing our natural world. Our healing comes from the earth through beauty, medicine from an Aloe Vera plant, interaction with another person or animal, fresh air, a stroll through nature to name a few suggestions.

Workshop

On this gorgeous sunny day we were greeted with warmth from Pearl Gervais whose dream, inspired from Remi De Roo’s lifelong reverence for the land, which came into being May 3, 2026; from each other, from teachers Maureen Wild, Leah Hokanson and from the staff who prepared the food with such care and from music. All my senses came to life as I saw the breathtaking beauty of nature on slides with sounds of birds, chants and music.

The poem, Nishmat by Marge Piercy was read to us for the Land Acknowledgement. The two questions that Australian Indigenous People ask are, “ From what waters do you come from?” and “Where is your bone country?”

I heard about amazing people who lived a full life making a difference in our environment, about workshops helping people with spiritually, connecting with animals and trees by creating and wearing a mask as learning to think like the one you chose to be.

We each created Pantoums of the Awesome poem as throughout the day we were taught how. We were taught through sound, reading silently and through pictures many different things including the life giving soil, air, water and fire.

As I heard throughout the day about how Remi De Roo, Thomas Berry, Pierre Teilhard, Joanna Macy and Hildegard lived their lives in constant spiritual harmony with the Divine through His creation of Earth, it brought back to life memories of my own story of constant awe of God’s glory and gifts of creation as I communicate with animals and nature.

This gathering sparked a fire within me with hope and joy to encourage others to experience life fully in the ways that God intended for us.
We need community, life-giving resources that are already all around us, to teach our children how to learn and look after the earth that was entrusted to us, in a more loving way.

I hope we will have more sessions like this one. I am willing to help others with organizing a future event.

This is the Pantoum poem I wrote during the day which was based on a real-life experience I had at Innisfail Wildlife Park in Alberta interacting with Berkley through the fence:

I speak to the bear Berkley
You see me, we communicate
How is it that you understand?
I love that you listen and accept me
You see me, we communicate
A wondrous Sacred moment
I love that you listen and accept me
The world is filled with the Absolute
A wondrous Sacred moment
I’m immersed in shared presence with you
The world is filled with the Absolute
A symphony of joy!
I’m immersed in shared presence with you
How is it that you understand?
A symphony of joy!