VOICE OF MOUSE
Dear Human Readers,
On September 25th, 2025, a Council of All Beings1 was held during Thursday’s Deep Listening Circle Online Sangha2.
The Honourable Members present included the following: Sand Piper, Desert Turtle, Red Eft, Dog, Mouse, Dolphin, Tarantula, Goat, Marigold, Air, Gorilla. We apologize to other Honourable Members present but not mentioned, our memory fades fast.
This gathering was part of our collective continuation of our beloved Joanna Macy, whose legacy keeps beating strongly, widening in amplified circles of love.
We offer you, today, an excerpt with the voice of just one member, Honorable Mouse, who graciously offered us their draft speech.
***
Dear Beloved Community,
Dear Honourable Members of the Council of All Beings,
This is Mouse bowing in.
Dear Human, do you remember our ancient ancestor who taught us how to bring our food to our mouths with our two hands? They were so creative, just as you are! They would be so proud to see the ingenious tools you have invented for eating: double sticks, one stick divided in several tiny pointy ends, another stick ending with a tiny cup, even a cutting stick! Oh, dear Human, I hope one day we will sit together at the table! Will you teach me how to use all of those wonderful tools?
Now, in these times, I need my home back. I need from you, dear Human, to recognize me as a living being who feels, to respect me as a sentient being and stop seeing me as a body to profit from. Help me. Stop. When about to hurt me, stop. Do not harm me, I am not an invader of your home, nor a living lab supply. Bring in your creativity to free me from the labs. I need you not to be afraid of me, as I want not to be afraid of you.
Dear Human, I offer apologies. For I have eaten crop fields and harvests. I have always admired how you have learnt to cultivate and preserve the fruits of the Earth. Your curiosity inspires me everyday… I also offer apologies: for innumerous human beings have experienced incommensurable suffering when viruses and bacteria have encountered you after traveling through me. I have always loved exploring the World with you, crossing Oceans with you, living with you. Your courageous and adventurous spirit inspires me everyday.
[To honor truth, we must say that, at this moment, tears of compassion and reconciliation watered cheeks in both Mouse and Human]
Dear Human, I offer you a deep sense of community capable of healing any voracious appetite and selfishness. I offer you the capacity to lovingly hear your own suffering and turn around from the traps of self destructive behaviour. I offer you my perspective so close to the ground, and my capacity to stand strong on my two feet to look beyond. I offer you the capacity to find refuge anywhere you go. I offer you the capacity to follow your intuition when nourishment is not in sight. I offer you the capacity to calm your heart, slow down and stay quietly attentive, and the capacity to reignite your inner fire. I offer you the capacity to hear and respond to seemingly inaudible messages. I offer you the capacity to hear the most feeble cries and the speed and determination to respond with help on time. I offer you the capacity to be brave when afraid. I offer you my voice to communicate accurately with kindness. I offer you the capacity to find your path in the dark.
This is Mouse bowing out.
***
These were the words that we heard from Mouse that day.
And, as one, the Council of All Beings replied: “We hear you, dear Mouse, we hear you”.
***
Contributor/Author: Carolina León Rolón, Peaceful River of the Heart, EHC and Abrazadores de la Tierra CTC Member.
- https://workthatreconnects.org/resources/council-of-all-beings/ ↩︎
- Following the steps of Joanna Macy, we Honor the Source: This text was written after participating in the “Council of All Beings” in an adapted form to the online format, offered by Lyn Fine and Facilitators Team of the Thursday’s Deep Listening Circle Online Sangha. You can learn more about the Work That Reconnects at www.workthatreconnects.org and in the book Coming Back to Life by Joanna Macy and Molly Brown. ↩︎
