What concerns me though is the way that some people are going overboard about the doom of the planet.
If every Sunday you go to church and are told that you are going to hell and there is nothing you can really do about it, you'll probably stop going.
If every time you go to the gym you are told that you're wasting your time and you'll never really get into shape before you die... really why not just head over to Ben & Jerry's for some instant gratification instead?
If every book you read about the state of the environment tells you about how everything is falling apart and dying and it's doing that so rapidly that our efforts aren't doing enough, why bother?
On one level it is important to see the state of things. We need to understand that resources are not unlimited. There is too much waste, the oceans are suffocating, the glaciers are melting, extinction is increasing... Yes there are a lot of problems. But you know what, we are not living on a giant ball of decay. Doom and gloom environmental zealots are making Earth sound like a giant leper colony that we must try to make better but probably won't and everything will fall apart and die and it's all our fault... what a freakin' bummer!
I want people to see the Joy that is the Earth. I want people to go out into their local nature (forest, desert, savanna, ice cave...) and just take a look at what there is. If everybody just spent some quiet time with nature, breathing the air, feeling the ground, watching the bugs and the birds... they could remember that Earth is Beautiful. "Saving" the Earth is not a chore. It is just what we must do. We don't need to cry and moan about it, we just need to fix it.
Earth is not just beautiful. It is our home, our health. Earth is our family. Earth renews spirit... Even with a supposition of an afterlife and a heaven, we're not there folks, we are Here and Now. Right now we have the privilege to live in 'Creation'. We are not dead yet, Earth is not dead yet, so let's stop all the crying about what is wrong and let's get excited about fixing it up. Let's not think about what a bummer it is to live here in the ruins of Eden, but look around and see what we do have.
It's amazing.
1 comment:
yes!!! We need to remember we are saving What from What! And for What? Keep the eyes open. Your grand mother mentioned once or twice that there have always been those that are saying Doom and Gloom, but the world is still here. Save one baby seal at a time. The effort is worth while. But the world will keep rolling around the sun until He sends it into the sun. DOD
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