Nature is our friend - Don't Be A Wage Slave

We are becoming more and more distant from nature. This is not an overstatement but, rather sadly, the truth. In North America, over 85% of the population now lives in cities; in Europe, it is much the same. What are the consequences of this distance? The First World is certainly growing distant from its center and roots.

We are organic creatures. Even the Bible tells us we have come from nature, “… Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.” (1) “… earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust …” (2) It is from the ether that we were conceived and to nature, we will return. (3) If we understand this truism, we experience a great deal of personal peace. Our separation from the environment, thus, does a lot of damage at many levels.

The very first concern must be our food supply. We live in a time of the industrial food system. (4) The sustenance necessary for daily life is external and distant. I simply go to a store to purchase my food. The beef, pork, or chicken, I choose for my dinner is neatly packaged and sanitized — bearing no resemblance to a living creature. It is simply meat or protein.

If you have ever had the horrible experience of actually killing an animal, you are soon exposed to the true pain of taking life, even if it is of a so-called, lower form. Now, most of us are not going to become vegans or vegetarians, but once we truly grasp where our food is from, we do have a bigger understanding of the world that we occupy — of Gaia. (5)

Many of the native peoples of the Earth have had a long-term relationship with the physical world. But, these societies are discounted because, when they lived in harmony with the land, they didn’t exploit it commercially. (6) This is true of the Nootka in British Columbia and the Inca in the Andes, to name but a few examples. Once these ethnic groups were subjugated, their land was monetized and exploited.

There is truly no way “to put the genie back in the bottle.” (7) We cannot return to a pre-industrialized civilization, no matter our desires. What we can do, however, is develop an understanding and respect for the natural world. I can take my shoes and socks off and walk on the grass. I can take a stroll in nature, and I can try to make my “environmental footprint” as small as possible. These are but a few steps that may lead me to make nature my friend once again.

The great poet, painter, and printmaker William Blake (8) leaves us with a thought: The tree that moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity, and by these I shall not regulate my propositions. And some see no nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.

A closing thought: We must stand on the side of life and sustainability. After the collapse of the Roman empire, Rome, the city, fell from 1,000,000 or more to under 30,000. Why? This is because you can’t eat concrete and cement — worth remembering in our modern context. Perhaps, this is why a walk in nature fills our hearts with such joy. We are, once again enjoined with the living world, not the world of our industrialized society.

To sum up: This week we spoke about consciously making nature our friend.

To be noted: From Derek Allen (9) — Life’s not promised to anyone; live today and love someone; don’t be so critical, and make room for your miracle.

Just for fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51dXnVmnrgU&t=66s&ab_channel=ClassicalMusic%2F%2FReferenceRecording

For reflection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU-wh1ycFjE&ab_channel=MindfulPhilosophy

This week, on your restful walk, please feel the natural world all around you.

Every day look for something magical and beautiful.

Don’t be a wage slave – critical thinking is great!

http://www.dbawageslave.com

Quote: Feel the morning softness in the air.

Footnotes:

1) Genesis 18:27

2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Common_Prayer