To the co-creators and co-“workers” of Eco-Learning Center
De Gaarde (Udenhout, NL, 1999-2009).
To the many friends of Earth all over the world
I am gifted with in all the years of searching
and working together
for the well being of the whole Community of Life.
I am very aware that all the wisdom and experiences shared in this website, we have gathered together. We have learned together, we have shared our insights, we have cared for the land, the water and all that is alive there where we were and lived. We have meditated and celebrated. We have cared for each other and those in need of compassion. Nothing is private, no insight personally owned. All belongs “to us” and the whole community of life.
As I present this website to you it is because you are part of the common heritage of the small community that started in De Gaarde, a small eco-centre at the end of the last millennium. De Gaarde does not exist anymore in the original form, but what has happened to us, in those years when our eyes and hearts were openend for a friendly universe and an abundant Earth, is in the hearts and minds of many men, women and children of many cultures all over the Planet. No, nothing has stopped, but changed to new dimensions.
Once more I may draw you together around the process on this website. I hope that as once we found wonder, beauty, inspiration and visions in the small circle there and then, you make it happen again and again to the many around you, searching for hope and light in these challenging times of the present.
This is my heritage I offer to you, because you were and are part of my life. We belong together.
May you all be blessed and uplifted, strengthened and overflowing with love for the tiniest gift of creation. May you be filled with hope and may a Great Vision and a deep love for all life move you forward.
And as one of the great mystics of Medieval Europe, Julian of Norwich, says to each one of us:
‘All shall be well,
And all shall be well,
And all manner of things
Shall be well.
When we say these words we begin to fulfill them’.
Photography: Steppeland
A special word of thanks to Jan Mes. From 2005 on, Jan made it possible by his technical- and heart support to reach so many all over the world through the digital road. May Jan find deep joy and fulfilment because of this gift so freely given up till today.
Thanks to Yvette (van Kempen), for her great passion for the beauty, professional care and love for life she brought to this site. By her editing work and designing she made this site userfriendly and inviting. Many will be touched by the artistic look of this site.
Without the help of Jan and Yvette this website would not be.
Boxtel, The Netherlands, Summer 2021
Elly Verrijt