Earth Day 2018
The
earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons and
daughters of the earth. This we know. All things are connected like
the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons and daughters
of the earth. We did not weave the web of life, we are merely strands
in it. Whatever we do to the web we do to ourselves."
Chief
Seattle
This Sunday, April 22nd, marks the 48th Anniversary of Earth Day. 48 Years! Almost a century. And yet still we continue to pollute our Home. We still are unweaving those webs of life. And we are doing it to ourselves. For Mother Earth was here in the beginning and She will outlast us until the end.
So who do we celebrate Earth Day for? Mother Earth or ourselves?
We celebrate Earth Day to remind ourselves that we are part of that web of life. Here in Rhode Island, people will gather in parks and by the ocean to clean up the trash we leave behind, as if the home we all share is a giant trash can. Or people will go hiking or biking, fishing or camping to get out of the house and into Nature.
But Chief Joseph was talking about something more when he said that we are strands in the weave of life. It isn't enough for us to go play and enjoy nature, just as it isn't enough to try to 'save' our natural resources -- although we need to do those things.
We have to figure out how to get back into alignment with Mother Earth and the rest of her children. We have to stop removing ourselves from this beautiful tapestry of life and weave ourselves back into it.
The Earth has been communicating with us all along about the problems our consumer lifestyle causes her. But we haven't been listening. Or else, we listen and choose to ignore her call. This American administration and global corporate interests are trying their hardest to ignore her call. They want to take us backwards and reverse the healing we've already accomplished since that first Earth Day in 1970.
After 48 years, we're at a tipping point, for the people of the world are finally acknowledging the fact that extreme climate change is a reality and it's happening now. And if we are really still part of Mother Earth's weaving, then perhaps the intense fires and hurricanes, the tornadoes and cold weather are outer examples of our inner feelings. Because just as Mother Earth is being raped and defiled, so are 'we the people' being killed by wars we don't want, by diseases caused by the poisons and pollution our industries spew out into our air, food and waters, and by an old masculine culture of domination and violence that refuses to give up its power to those who want to work at healing, peace and cooperation.
So what can we do this 48th Earth Day to change course? How do we really connect with Mother Earth and her tapestry of life?
Connecting to the Earth entails more than keeping our carbon emissions low and recycling, although these are ways we try to clean up the pollution generated by our modern life-style. Connecting to the Earth isn't just going for a hike in the mountains or swimming in the ocean, although these are times when we can commune with nature. Connecting to the Earth is about connecting to the energies and life force of all of Earth's other children. It's about acknowledging that we are One with all of Nature.
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