Respecting Our World Results In Greater Self Respect

When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.—Aldo Leopold

What is true to live in America today? We are a nation of $18 trillion dollars of personal debt. In the last few years we have accumulated an additional $260 billion dollars of foreign deficit to the $1.5 trillion dollars already owed. We continue to sink further into this black hole. We live in a land where our government has subcontracted (outsourced) energy, environmental, labor, health and even our voting machines to private interests. Inequality, injustice, and inhumanity seem to be the by-products of a nation that generates 18 billion tons of materials each, but we are unable to measure how regrettable our nation's greed impacts on those less fortunate—especially the land and its creatures. We are facing an inner form of poverty by the denial implicit in our actions.

Our very democracy is in question since our quality of life reflects are country's inability to be fully honest with itself. Our addiction to material things has created a culture of denial. As an alcoholic who bottoms out, we must undergo some form of intervention and rehabilitation. We must get past our "affluence and effluence." We need to undergo a moral balance sheet to undergo a national inventory, and also acknowledge there must be a bottom line to our consumer driven insanity.

Recovery = Discovery: All I have control over are my own self-choices. Creating sacred relationship gives me both greater purpose and a richer life. When I remember my interconnection with the earth, I feel a profound sense of joy. All indigenous beliefs do not separate themselves from their surroundings. Understanding my link with all things provides me with a sense of harmony and well being. When I expand my consciousness and am aware of my interdependency with everyone and everything in this world, I am liberated from my ego self. Can we deny our dependency upon this world to survive? Simply, the world is a greater extension of ourselves. Can we possibly deny this link? If we separate ourselves from our world, then we disconnect our soul from our own very nature.

We come from the land; we must breathe, eat, drink, and eventually return to this earth. Modern life has created many illusions that contradict our true relationship by placing us indoors most of the time. We are hardly ever in nature. Any interaction with our natural environment represents our coming back to our first home.

Shakespeare said, action is eloquence. Our decision-making process allows us the possibility for new freedom. Any action that defends our environment is similar to a mother protecting her child. Harmony in this world is not about sacrifice but demonstrating appreciation for our Gaia who encompasses us. As we make the shift from being consumers to becoming true citizens, we can excel to a higher level of democracy, particularly by motivating others to take action. As each one of us develops greater compassion, wonder, sensitivity, respectfulness, courage, love, appreciation, tenacity, and gratitude, we can fully engage in the kind of stewardship that is calling to us now.

A new dimension of our environmental mindset sees that trees have equal standing with people. Without the one there can not be the other. Deforestation, stripping mountaintops, land filling wetlands, and numerous other forms of reckless environmental exploitation may satisfy human needs in the short run, but will rob future generations of life. An emerging spirit intent on improving our environment will stimulate life-affirming and life enhancing choices.

Our surroundings provide us with both our physical needs (drinking water, garden soil and air to breath) as well as aesthetic and recreational benefits. It benefits us, therefore, to preserve these benefits; it so obviously makes moral sense. Such a natural relationship is so meaningful that, for many individuals, it borders on worship and divinity.

Conserving, preserving and protecting our environment is tied to the very notion of human excellence. Humans can demonstrate their virtue and cause the human experience to flourish by promoting a healthier relationship with our planet. Just a simple act like riding a bicycle instead of driving a car serves to better our world. Any action that directly promotes the well being of the larger ecological community serves to show our gratitude for the earth. Any choices we make that will lessen, for example, the threat of further habitation fragmentation and biodiversity loss, represent investments in resources for the future. Any way we can better this planet directly betters ourselves.

We all act as environmental role models when we choose to become sustainable in our everyday lives. By engaging in a greater environmental ethic, we can feel certain we are doing the right thing, and for the right reasons. Moreover, environmental virtue provides the sensitivity and wisdom necessary for incorporating action-guiding rules and principles to concrete situations. Developing sensitivity is a requirement in determining which rules or principles are applicable to a specific situation. And out of this sensitivity, we will know which course of action is recommended given the nature of any crisis that will arise. Juggling between conflicting moral dilemmas, we must value a more wholesome lifestyle if we are going to prosper in these very stressful times. The more we show respect for our surroundings, the greater self-respect we will behold!

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