Earth Day
The United States initiated Earth Day in 1970. The event called attention to the impact human lives have on the planet. Fifty years later in 2020 the entire world participated in activities to expand human awareness regarding the Earth. We now know that meditation, contemplation and creation build Heart Coherence that brings the beat of our heart into rhythm with the beat of the Earth’s heart. This is actually measured by the Heart Math Institute in 21 locations throughout the world. Various announcements leading up to this year’s Earth Day celebration filled the media.
We learned of President Biden’s Earth Day Climate Summit. Articles questioned whether the United States is prepared to lead fighting climate change. On the same day, the United Nations warned us that the world is on the verge of climate crisis abyss given continued temperature increases. We no longer have the luxury of debating whether or not climate change is real. Nor can we any longer avoid the root of the problem.
Temperature increases, flooding, volcanic activity that threatens to displace entire nations such as Iceland, the loss of nearly 70% of the animal species, 40% of Plant and Tree Species and a world-wide pandemic are all symptoms. Symptoms of our broken relationship with the Earth. When we decided that the Earth was ours to do with as we pleased for human benefit, we started down this path. We objectified the Earth and Her inhabitants rather than relating to them. Certainly, we need to triage the symptoms, but warnings and summits will be useless unless we seek relationship with the Earth and all of Her blessings.
Listening to rivers speak during hikes, identifying the raptors who accompany us during our travels, using Plants and Trees for medicine and watching the sun set behind rolling hills only to rise again the next morning with a chorus of bird song that pauses the instant the sun breaks the horizon can no longer be recreational activities. They must become the source of our lives, the heart of our lives in order to be in relationship with the Earth. When we are in relationship with the Earth, we will no longer tolerate the ways that humans contribute to climate change.