I will move lightly, gently, upon this place with my feet, caring for the earth with my steps.
For the beauty of the earth, I will.

I will touch the water; and I will feel it touching
me. For the beauty of the earth, I will.

I will find the horizon with my gaze and let myself dissolve into it, like salt dissolves into water.
For the beauty of the earth, I will.

If I am moved to weep, I will weep; I will let my salt water tears feed this lake.
For the beauty of the earth, I will.

I will let this place change me today, going forward with a great salt lake inside my heart, fed by the sky and the mountains, sustained by creatures great and small,
reflecting my own beauty to the world.
For the beauty of the earth, I will.

Rev. Monica Dobbins is a minister serving the First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City. A native of the ancestral lands of the Shawnee, Cherokee, and Muskogee peoples in what is now called Alabama, she is drawn to natural features like the Great Salt Lake that define people’s bodies and imaginations.