“What does it mean to become rooted in the land? How can we become better relatives to our greatest teacher, the Earth?” – Randy Woodley

I've been following Randy Woodley, co-sustainer of Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice, for a while, and I was so excited to hear about his new book of meditations and ideas for reflection and action to help us become rooted in our relationship with creation and the divine.

Becoming Rooted invites us to live out a deeply spiritual relationship with the whole community of creation and with Creator. Through meditations, epigraphs, and ideas for reflection and action, Randy Woodley, an activist, author, scholar, and Cherokee descendant, recognized by the Keetoowah Band, guides us on a one-hundred-day journey to reconnect with the Earth. Woodley invites us to come away from the American dream--otherwise known as an Indigenous nightmare--and get in touch with the water, land, plants, and creatures around us, with the people who lived on that land for thousands of years prior to Europeans' arrival, and with ourselves. In walking toward the harmony way, we honor balance, wholeness, and connection.

Woodley comes from a Christian perspective but encourages readers of any spiritual or religious experience to “feel free to substitute your own sense of the force you believe animates the universe…We are on this journey together” (pg. 5).

On January 12, 2022, a communal “100 Days of Becoming Rooted” journey launched on Facebook and Instagram with opportunities to process with others reading the book and engage with Woodley. It’s definitely not too late to join, especially with the author’s gentle encouragement not to worry about doing it perfectly and just join as we can. I’ll be participating in the discussions on Instagram, and it would be great if other EE folks joined in, too!

During or after reading the book, please share any reflections or questions that come up. Or if there are other collections of meditations, prayers, poetry, etc., that have been meaningful to you in your spirituality and/or EE practice, I’d love to hear about them, too!