A number of years ago there was a add for a butter substitute, a margarine called Chiffon. Part of the ad was “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.” It was a very clever add. I have no idea of how well it worked. More recently, apparently there was a television show, Charmed, in which Piper (as Goddess of Earth) says “It is not nice to piss off mother earth” as she flings Chris against the bedroom door.
In more recent years there has been a renewed effort to convince we humans that how we are treating the environment is having a permanent and devastating effect on the climate conditions which will, in the not too distant future, make it impossible for we humans to continue to live on this planet. Although there is increasing agreement on this issue there are still many who maintain that, in fact, no matter what we humans do or do not do the earth will continue to cycle through enormous changes. No matter what, for example, we will eventually have another ice age. Some scientists have on the basis of studies of such factors as fossils and rock formation created charts speculating about the course of these cycles over a 60 million year time frame.
Although I personally suspect that there will be cycle of changes no matter what we do or do not do, I also firmly believe that this solar system and, in fact, multiple universes exist as a very well balanced system. I do not think we can misuse, overuse, or mistreat Mother Nature at any one point without affecting the whole of the earth and eventually the universe. Rather than arguing about the extent of the damage we are causing worldwide, it simply makes sense to me that, if we are to have any quality of life short term or long term, we will have to have a more loving or synchronistic relationship with everything and everyone on this planet and in the universe. Whether it is the amount of pollutants which are being emitted by gas powered vehicles, the millions of tons of plastic being dumped in the oceans of the earth every year, the number of trees harvested or destroyed by fire because of human damage to the balance in the eco system, it seems obvious to me that we are not doing a very good job of fooling mother nature. Although the ad for Chiffon might have successfully sold many tons of artificial butter, I cannot believe that Mother Nature was fooled.
It would seem to me that we do not need more scientific studies to convince we humans of the basic laws of physics, mainly that all systems must balance if they are to function. If I disturb one thing, i.e. remove gravity, than there will be a corresponding inability of how objects, including humans, to function on this planet. If one wants to refresh one’s mind about the basic laws of physics, I suggested that one goggle “physicsclassroom.com.” Whether we are talking about a group of humans or the eco system, disturbing one part will affect the entire balance.
When talking about the balance of we humans we would do well to remind ourselves of the six degrees of separation which states that there are only six people between any one of us and every other human in the world. Thus, if I know A there are only five people who stand between A and any other person in the universe. I have personally experienced this phenomena many times. The example, which I most like to think about, concerns the number of people I potentially affect if I am pleasant, indifferent, or unpleasant to the store clerk. Now, if I treat the store clerk badly and the store clerk is in a very strong, spiritually centered, loving position, how I treat the store clerk will not adversely affect them. They might consciously or unconsciously refuse to accept my unspoken invitation to the negative space. Instead, I might consciously or unconsciously join the store clerk in a positive space. If one of us stays in a negative space and one stays in a positive space the system is unbalanced. Something has to change. Most likely it will change by me leaving. In either case, we will both have been somewhat affected, however minimally, by this interaction. Then every person with whom both of us come into contact will be slightly or greatly changed or affected by the energy, which has been changed as a result of pervious interaction. Of course, all the people with whom those people each of us touched will have an effect on every person with whom they come into contact. By the end of the day, even if we have a day in which we have contact with very few people, we will have directly and indirectly affected hundreds or thousands of people. It is 10:24 a.m. So far today I have interacted with approximately 50 people in person, via phone, text, and email. I have been near a number of other people at the gym or at Panera’s where I am writing. I have directly or indirectly affected a lot of people.
Similarly how I treat mother earth today will have enormous effect on the entire planet. Let us just focus on one example. Figures about how much plastic is polluting the environment vary from 32 billion tons a year to 20 billion tons a day. There is no disputing the fact that many of the fish that we eat have consumed plastic. (Goggle any number of sites to get information about this issues, i e. ecowatch.com). It may seems as if my using and disposing of one plastic bag today has little affect but think of billions of people worldwide doing this.
This morning, (Monday, November 9,2015) I was listening to an NPR report about the rain forest in Brazil. It is estimated that the rain forests have survived for over 50 million years but today, these forests are dying because of direct human cutting of trees and fires resulting from a disturbance in the a balance of the eco system of which they are a part. It seems that the trees in the rain forest take in water and then give up water as a vapor, which, in turn, affects the atmospheric pressure, which results in more rain. The trees need to work together to create movement of moisture in the air. The person reporting on this process on the NPR program compared the process to love. Love increases love. More moisture creates more moisture/vapor, which results in more rain. Most of us will recall the term photosynthesis from our basic science class. We may or may not remember much about the process. Wikipedia reminds one:
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy, normally from the Sun, into chemical energy that can be later released to fuel the organisms' activities. This chemical energy is stored in carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars, which are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water – hence the name photosynthesis, from theGreek
φῶς, phōs, "light", and σύνθεσις, synthesis, "putting together".[1][2][3] In most cases, oxygen is also released as a waste product. Most plants, most algae, and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis; such organisms are called photoautotrophs. Photosynthesis maintains atmospheric oxygen levels and supplies all of the organic compounds and most of the energy necessary for life on Earth.
It is not important that we remember the science of all this. One can goggle NPR, Rain Forest, and November 2015 to listen to the full report. One can also go to many sites to review the basic science of the interaction of all parts of the environment. It should not be rocket science to accept that all the choices we make today about our relationship with each other, the planet on which we live, and the universe operates or functions as a system. We cannot abuse or change one piece without affecting the entire system. How we take care of each other also will have a direct effect on how awake we humans stay - how present we are. If I am not awake I may not remember to take that reusable cloth bag into the store instead of getting a plastic bag, which I then need to reuse or dispose of. If I want to be intentional about what products I buy in terms of my personal health and in terms of the environment, I need to be very intentional. Treating each other well can make us more able to be intentional and more open to hearing each other’s concerns.
The fact is that no matter how much we think we can fool ourselves we cannot fool Mother Nature. It’s not nice (or possible) to fool Mother Nature. If we try, we may piss her off!
Written November 9, 2015