Is Humankind Committing Suicide? | Our War With Nature Is A War Against Ourselves

in #nature7 years ago (edited)

We become the things we care for, that we invest our time in, that we love...
Because love is an act of expansion, an opening, a reaching toward.

When we love, whether plant, person, place, etc, we extend ourselves to that object, becoming more than our bodies. Our concepts of our self & our awareness grow, and we merge or connect with that object of love. In some ways we have now become that object, or in sensing our connection with it, we have a tendency to have more empathy (or we feel what they feel more easily) with the beloved.

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(source)

But what of a culture whose bottom line necessity has been made up to be survival through greed, overwork, one-up-manship & racing one another to an ethereal finish line time and time again? The finish line of monetary gain at all costs- even over the health of ourselves & our ecosystems?

What if our cultural progress is actually killing us?

Cultural champions can be holistically strong, but they can also be way out of balance: never resting, the disease of over-work constantly taking hold; raised stress levels leading to a myriad of health conditions; a perpetual valuing of doing over being. And the earth, our larger body, in the scheme of a capitalistic, racing economy where one has to grab & take before the other is able to in order to get the share, is largely leaving our literal playing field of the ground we walk on dreadfully raped & pillaged, polluted and overlooked. In a word, the playing field is disrespected. The playing field is seen as a backdrop and as the culture’s main Father God says, The earth is here to serve you, it is seen as an eternal, limitless bank account where everyone has the bank number- it’s just a matter of who gets there first.

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But the earth is not a limitless, eternally giving bank account for everyone to take from. The earth is a system, a living organism, a dynamic combination of finite and infinite resources playing together much in the same way our body is a largely mysterious system of interchanges amazingly keeping a healthy equilibrium. The earth is abundant, yes!

But she is also kind of like your mother, who will give you everything, but not if you disrespect her, take her diamond and gold jewelry, cut off her hair, blow smoke in her face, inject her with dangerous toxins, spill harmful substances into her mouth and other orifices, and when you say you’ll take her for a massage, lace her with life-sapping chemicals leaving her body in a state of depletion & warfare.

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She is abundant & giving, our Great Mother, yet we must learn to work with her instead of treating her like some backdrop wishing tree that has no relationship to us beyond what we can get from her.

And this is how we slowly move forward...

We begin again to care, to see, to behave in relationship with, to love, adore, & worship, even, this being on whom we live and breathe and have our being.

Take my body broken for you, eat it in remembrance of me, the Christ says, and I wonder- Isn’t this verse also apt in relationship with our Primordial constant mother, the earth? Instead of setting our spirituality on an ethereal God of total spirit who will nourish our spirit but not our body, what if we also integrate and ground our spiritual leanings?

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The verse can then take on a literal meaning wherein our Great Mother says to us: take my body broken for you, eat it in remembrance of me. And, if every time we eat, plant a garden, & break bread, we see it as such a spiritual, sacred sacrifice she has made for us, giving us of her literal body so that we can continue to live. In this way she is our sustenance and the building blocks of our bodies.

Which of you can live without being a part of her in this way? Yet in remembrance, connection & union with our mother – how could we treat her with such sacrilege? With such ultimate disrespect?

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I don’t believe we could. But we have fostered and nurtured religions and economic and political systems where the ones who make it to the finish line, chunk of mother’s flesh in hand first, make it to the bank & so continue to contaminate and control. Wherein the god-figure is a male and tells us the earth has nothing to do with us beyond being something we subjugate and have dominion over.

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The Great Mother, like most of our own mothers, wants to give us every good thing. But first we must treat her with respect and see her for the gift she is. Let us sing along in adoration with this “Ave” as written by Diane Di Prima,

you are the hills, the shape and color of mesa

you are the tent, the lodge of skins, the Hogan

the buffalo robes, the quilt, the knitted afghan

you are the cauldron and the evening star

you rise over the sea, you ride the dark

I move within you, light the evening fire

I dip my hand in you and eat your flesh

you are my mirror image and my sister

you disappear like smoke on mist hills

you lead me thru dream forest on horseback

large gypsy mother, I lean my head on your back

I am you
and I must become you
I have seen you
and I must become you
I am always you
I must become you

For when we become something, when we extend ourselves out to see ourselves as connected or not-that-different than something, we are not apt to treat it any differently than we would want to be treated. And over time this leads to great care & a deep, abiding cherishing.

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(Art by Alejandra H Lauria)

"In the quiet stillness of your heart you can hear your Grandmother's voice. Listen. Her wisdom shines in the Light of the stars."

—Grace Alvarez Sesma (Yoeme/Kumiai)

All images from Pixabay unless otherwise noted.

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Thank you for sharing. I realized some time ago that I am an expression of God. (I have no religion connected to the words I choose to use, they are only a reference point.) Wow! I thought that is heavy, I am an expression of God! Then I realized everyone , every creature, every thing is as well. What respect this commands from me. What honor I must have for my body, my temple. My husband and I are working towards homesteading because we know that living in accordance with nature is the right way. Its the way my papaw and granny were raised. Or at least more so than most today. What a beautiful post. Thank you and have a lovely night. -Lindsey

this comment is so good and is at the heart of what I was trying to express. thanks.

"Instead of setting our spirituality on an ethereal God of total spirit who will nourish our spirit but not our body, what if we integrate and ground our spiritual leanings?"

Why consider these to be mutually exclusive? I think it's perfectly possible to embrace both ideas. I don't worship the earth the same way I worship God, but I can still treat it with respect and reverence and appreciation.

so do i, but i think oftentimes modern christianity has trouble connecting with the earth (i know there are a lot of initiatives to shift this, but overall that is my experience).

i don't mean to offend or be mutually exclusive (added a couple alsos), just to point out this common disparity in languaging and action.

I always get annoyed by religion or spirituality, but I also get hurt from seeing the destruction an carelessness . It's just sad when people throw a truckload of trash away in nature what happens all the time in Poland.

Maybe I am reading this incorrectly but it feels like you are putting 'mother earth' in higher regard than our Lord and Father. I agree the earth needs to be respected better, you can see that when you see the litter all over the road. If people would read the bible and understand the laws none of this would happen and we would all be in a better place.

Mainly I am seeking to highlight the divorce so many people feel from having a connection or "stake" in the earth.

If people would read the bible and understand the laws none of this would happen and we would all be in a better place.

If people would respect other people and their environment as they themselvex would want to be treated, we'd be in much better shape. Depending on a book (any book) for guidance is limiting. We, as a species, need to get beyond the need to enforce rules on folks and instead support them in positive decision making.

That book may work for you, but assuming it should be a guide for everyone is overstepping. My apologies if that is offensive. It's not meant to be. It's only to say there are other valid avenues to the goals we aspire to.

thanks for addressing that @aunt-deb, i wasn't sure how to tactfully say anything. you said it all well and better than i could've and i appreciate that <3

You're welcome.

The 'if only everybody would...' perspective seems to be a popular one, but I don't see it solving any practical problems.

If people practiced "masterful stewardship" over "dominion", this problem wouldn't be a problem :)

Stewardship is it! True freedom demands a lot of responsibility and stewardship is a huge part of it! Thanks for this reminder!

Some people read the bible and actually use that text to justify their actions of dominating nature, while plenty of bible believers continue to happily participate in the culture of destruction....so while it may be possible to read the bible and come away with a respect for the Earth, you can't rely on it for that kind of guidance.

I have heard it said the orginal translation of "practice dominion" can also be translated as "practice masterful stewardship".

If this is so, then a shift from an extractive/sustainable system to a regenerative system could occur on belief in the turn of a few words.

Love this! What a powerful shift in those few words! Dominion and stewardship carry such different intentions and that could make all the difference. Thanks for contributing!

We are nature, we are not above it or below it. We part of this great planet and this dominant view that so many have over nature is our greatest downfall. To treat the earth with so much disrespect really saddens me, I see it everyday in so many ways. This is something that is very close to my heart and the impact it has on us is huge. So many feel so alone and isolated, not seeing this beautiful connection we all have with our home and one another. It is time to stand up and actively come together to reconnect with ourselves, with the earth xxx

Yes , very close to my heart too <3 Resonate with your comment <3

We part of this great planet and this dominant view that so many have over nature is our greatest downfall.

I can't think of anything eloquent to say but I feel this. I wrote something a while ago that sort of simplifies my take on this.

The best thing I have learned since moving to this homestead is the art of slowing down, seeing and appreciating everything. It seems as though my natural senses have awakened and I feel more connected to everything around me. This land nourishes me and I do my best to nourish it. The canvas and brush strokes are forever changing and it never ceases to be remarkable. We spend so much time searching for things to complete us all the while ignoring and moving too fast to see the gift that is right before us.

Thank you! I loved reading this.

walkerland, that is truly beautiful. thank you for gracing us with it.

THIS:

We spend so much time searching for things to complete us all the while ignoring and moving too fast to see the gift that is right before us.

It's a practice for me, one I'm thankful you reminded me of.

Incredibly moving post!
I completely agree with your views on sustainability and how we are using our planet just way too much!
I'll continue to do my but for this amazing world will live in.
Thanks for your post.
Darren

thank you! <3
Darren, by the looks of that post of your I just read- you're doing a great job! Teaching kids is one of the best avenues to shift toward sustainability. They are our future! <3

woah, that di prima poem is gorgeous

i like where you're going with this, on the whole. i like the idea of saying thanks when you take something - like picking flowers, or harvesting veggies for a meal. then, give back more than you take!

<3

<3 yes the gratitude aspect is def a huge part of this. and giving back more than you take is an important aspect, thanks for mentioning it.

Wonderful!! Thank you for sharing beautiful heart. ❤️

thank you, beautiful heart <3 :)

We have been called to be stewards of the land since day one. The less people living off the land the more detached people are and the less respect they have for it.