Earth Week: Are We Listening to Her?

 I guess I would call myself an Earth Activist. Many of my activities are chosen because I want to learn from the natural world or support the healing of the earth. These days in the 21st century, when our planet's future is gravely called into question, it is easy to get angry at the folks who think climate change is a myth, or that it is crazy to let environmental factors slow down our manic rush for money. When I am frustrated by the divisions in this country along this subject, I make myself pause so that I can better understand why so many people are against caring for the earth. I think back to the culture that we baby-boomers were born into. Our philosophy in this country centered around individualism, competition, and succeeding in business (making lots of money). You knew you were successful of you topped the charts in whatever you did. Most of us increasingly lived in cities with paved streets and sidewalks, houses to be inside when we weren't at work, surrounded by manicured lawns cut close. The earth rarely came to our minds. Humans were thought to be the rulers of the world, and resources were there for us to exploit. From our earliest years, we were trained in this world view, and if things were going well for us, we had little incentive to question that paradigm. 

Even now, when our immediate future here on the planet is in jeopardy, I can see how many people steeped in the old values of individualism and capitalism are hell bent on resisting anything that disrupts their perceived control of the world. Because it is inconvenient to think otherwise, it is easy for them to charge that climate change is a lie, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary. Even though I was born into the same culture as these folks, I was fortunate to grow up on a farm. Those years with the streams and fields as my playground helped to open up part of my consciousness to our connection with the earth. And that has allowed me to be more open to how we are inadvertently destroying the health of the earth mother who supports us all. However, rather than being angry and confrontational about the necessity of changing our ways, it helps me to remember the heavy influence of culture on us all, and the painfully slow process of changing it.

It is crystal clear that if we want the earth to be a place where our children and grandchildren can live, we need to change our behavior here on the planet. And the statistics tell us that this needs to happen quickly, for we are on the edge of the cliff. What I am hoping is that at some point soon, nudged by all the publicity about changing climate, people will pause to let their intuition have a voice. If we listen and observe what the world is telling us, maybe we will start to realize that change needs to happen. Our species is smart, perceptive, and sensitive. This is our time now to put aside our resistance and step up to save our world. It is possible if we can only put aside what gets between us and work together in this moment in history. Rather than earth care as a divisive political point, maybe we can start individually relating to our earthly home with more appreciation and a quality of humility. We may begin to see that rather than being the rulers, we are fellow inhabitants with all of the rest of life, each with our differences, each of value, each helping to bring balance. And if we are open to seeing and listening, we can realize that humans have badly disrupted the balance in all sorts of ways. We didn't do it intentionally. We just weren't aware of our healthy place in the circle of life.

Yesterday there was a wonderful piece of national news reported by Heather Cox Richardson in her daily "Letters from an American". The Department of Interior just finalized a new program in the management of our public lands. The head of the Dept. of Interior is a Native American woman, Deb Haaland. And she is fiercely working to protect the lands and waters of this nation. In this new natural resources management program, 243 million acres of public lands are being more protected from activities such as logging and mining that degrade the health and stability of the whole. There is much resistance to this change in policy from people who were making money from the exploitation of public lands, but Deb Haaland has courage and is standing up for what she knows is needed. She's an example to all of us. When we see something that needs to be done, we can summon up our courage and work toward what is needed, however small our efforts might be. As we head together toward a healthier, saner relationship with our earth, who knows what we might achieve.