Post-Earth Day: Say It Will Never Be!
April 22, 2019
Post-Earth Day could become a reality. It would be a day remembering that there was a planet Earth that once sustained life. Of course, humans wouldn’t be around to remember. That would be aliens, unless we figured out a way to live in space, another planet, or something else that we could destroy, too.
On this Earth Day, I want to share the words of Chief Luther Standing Bear, an Oglala Lakota Sioux (1868–1939). the tribe of current Water Protectors.
“Wherever forests have not been mowed down, wherever the animal is recessed in their quiet protection, wherever the earth is not bereft of four-footed life — that to the white man is an ‘unbroken wilderness.’
“But for us there was no wilderness, nature was not dangerous but hospitable, not forbidding but friendly. Our faith sought the harmony of man with his surroundings; the other sought the dominance of surroundings.
“But we were wise. We knew that man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard.
“Kinship with all creatures of the earth, sky, and water was a real and active principle. In the animal and bird world there existed a brotherly feeling that kept us safe among them… The animals had rights — the right of man’s protection, the right to live, the right to multiply, the right to freedom, and the right to man’s indebtedness. This concept of life and its relations filled us with the joy and mystery of living; it gave us reverence for all life; it made a place for all things in the scheme of existence with equal importance to all.”
Our inextricable link with Nature could inform us about our lives and life in general. If the majority, though, does not adopt the attitude and and practices that Luther Standing Bear references above, then someone may very well be soon keeping Post-Earth Day, and the aliens will wonder how we so quickly destroyed such an amazing planet and failed to heed those who shared their Heart and who connected so intimately with creation.
We are part of that great creator Spirit. To this fact, we each need to awaken. The light and love must first shine within and from us. Then, we will live in respect, equality, and acceptance for one another and all creation.
