Sacred Desecration

There are no unsacred places. There are only sacred places and desecrated places.

To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.

There is an article in Appalachian Magazine that has struck a chord with me, and it resonated back to one of my favorite quotes by Wendell Berry. Which in turn led me to this wonderful meme featuring more of his wisdom. 

We are made of starstuff, Carl Sagan said, and well that may be, but the flesh and blood and bone that the starstuff created was birthed here on this beautiful lopsided blue marble. We are basically stuck here, you could say. The Earth is a closed environment. 

Earth ... Mother Nature ... Gaia

In Greek mythology, Gaia, also spelled Gaea, was the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia was the great mother of all; the primal Greek Mother Goddess; creator and giver of birth to the Earth and all the Universe.

I have not always been the most environmentally aware person - but as I have aged, I have become more sensitive to what is happening to our planet as a whole. Not just the resources, but the people. 

Technology would appear to be the natural progression of the evolution of our species, but I am not sure it is all about the good. We have harmed our planet, with everything from drilling for oil, to fracking, to overfishing, to aiding and abetting in the extinction of an astounding number of creatures. 

We are a greedy lot, us humans. Greedy and clannish and merciless in our treatment of other living things. We poison the air and the soil and the water with our improvements. We turn on one another in an endless game of this is mine and that is yours and I want it all. We see not the beautiful mosaic that we are, but seem to want everyone to look and think and worship and live just like we do, no matter the cost or consequence.

We blithely cause pain and suffering to anyone and anything that strikes our fancy, but scream loud and cry hard if we are treated in kind. We satisfy our wants and the cost is the needs of others. Perspective is gone – we an insatiable beast devouring all and screaming for more. We insulate and isolate ourselves and become both hypersensitive and outrageously callous at the same time. 

Every once in a great while, we feel a prick of conscious. We perform some empty gesture to a handpicked audience of our peers to assuage our guilt. We push any true sense of self-awareness further and further away each time. 

But I am a schemer, a weaver of dreams, and I specialize in believing in what others may call impossible things. 

I do not believe we are doomed. Not as a culture, not as a society, not as a species, not this beautiful planet or the miracle that we are. There are scars, injuries to be healed. There are course corrections to be made, and they may not be easy. Uncomfortable and painful more than likely. Physically demanding, emotionally draining, psychically challenging. 

We can be better stewards of our resources. We can be more caring of the animals we share the water, land, and air with. We can be more tender and loving to each other, judging less and listening more. We can have enough, not excess, but enough, and in so doing ensure that another has enough as well. 

Maybe we need to look at our priorities. Ask ourselves some tough questions. Think before we speak, plan before we act. Be willing to help one another, and be willing to ask for help when we have need. 

I have a vision of Earth, healed ... 

Be kind, it costs nothing and means everything.

Be Blessed, Brothers and Sisters, and Bless others in the Blessing.

~ Ellen Apple 7/6/2016