We are but a minuscule part of an interdependent multitude. The web of life is vast. And really, really cool. This innate sensibility tends to get muted as we “mature,” making it all the more important to revisit and rekindle those early sparks. That feeling of awe that rushes through us when we get up close to the natural world is a signal. Like all strong feelings in the heart and gut, it is telling us something about what matters—about where we can find joy and connection, about what is valuable and sacred, about how to orient a moral compass in a decaying world. In other words, it is telling us how to survive. As humans, it is maladaptive to lose touch with these feelings.
Johnson, Ayana Elizabeth. What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures (p. xviii). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
No person is an island. We are part of something much more vast than our individual ego. That “something much more” goes by many names. For this article, I am calling it “Mother Nature.”
In Unitarian Universalism one of its seven principles is to covenant together to affirm and promote the respect for the interdependent web of which we are a part.
Humanity has lost respect for the interdependent web and we have fouled our nest which now puts us in peril for survival and already has killed millions of other species of life forms on this planet.
When people are discouraged they play the game of “Ain’t it awful.” We tsk tsk and blame others or circumstances and then in a depressed state give up and tell apocalyptic stories to entertain and profit as we submit to circling the drain.
Others deny the human impact on Mother Nature and say that the climate changes we are observing are the result of natural processes outside of our control. These climate change deniers usually have a hidden agenda which is to profit from business as usual no matter the longer term destructive consequences which destroy the very businesses they are lying to protect and they don’t care about the death and destruction their products are wreaking on the interdependent web.
The Noble eightfold path in Buddhism teaches that we should strive for wisdom which is right understanding, and right action which is abstaining from harming living beings.
Ayanna Elizabeth Johnson the author of What If We Get It Right? repeatedly reminds us that we, as humans, have choices. We are not doomed. There are things we can do and are doing already to be more respectful of the interdependent web and treat Mother Nature with the worth and dignity she deserves.
What are the most important things we can do to improve our caring for Mother Nature?
Inform ourselves to become more self aware.
Engage with others to work to create better environments for all things on earth.
Implement positive practices to nurture and facilitate healthy nurturing ecologies.
Evaluate the outcomes of our practices
Go back to step one and repeat the cycle.
If you are reading this post, you are already doing step one. Come along with us on Markhams Slow News as we study further the mitigation of negative human practices on climate change and learn to adapt in the most just and equitable ways possible to the changes that are already occurring.
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