A Prayer for a Better World
Earth Day 2001: A Prayer for a Better World<>
(Teach Your Children Well)<>
I dedicate this article to all Living Beings<>
Kate Durda<>
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I was moved to write this article for many reasons, especially due to a number of experiences I ‘ve had, like these few shared below. I begin this article with these snapshots from life:<>
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A beautiful warm May afternoon, and I am walking in a nature preserve. I come upon two young boys, maybe 8 years and 10 years old, playing near some logs on the ground. I say hello to them and smile, happy that they are enjoying themselves in nature! They are eager to share with me what they have “found”. A snake! In a tightly held, sealed plastic bag, in the 80 degree heat, running out of air. Their parents sitting nearby, watching their boys showing me their prize, smile proudly. <>
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… another Spring day, a year later, and I am camping near the Manistee River, a very beautiful natural place. I watch two children, a girl about 10 years old, and the boy about 12, trying hard to catch a frog. No doubt they will be successful in their actions, if they don’t accidentally kill it first, as there is nowhere for it to escape easily. They want to take it home…in a little plastic bait tub they have found. Upon discussion with me, the boy rationalized that he would provide a ‘better home’ for this frog, better than the paradise it was already in. He also threw in the fact that they just leave home when they are grown, so there really is no reason for it to stay here.<>
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Another scene. Seven little boys, maybe 6-7 years old have dammed up a small creek and are throwing darts into the frogs caught there. They do not believe, nor care to consider, that the frogs have feelings, nor consider that they are maiming and killing these defenseless gentle creatures.<>
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Many years ago now, going back in time. Even in my own past, my sisters, have caught<>
some tadpoles, and brought them home to grow up into frogs. They were placed in an oval enamel basis, and forgotten. I found them one day, shriveled and stuck to the sides and bottom of the pan, dead and forgotten.<>
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Same era, end of the 50’s. watching the TV. show “Combat”, learning how to blow things up. When I am old enough to have small firecrackers, I put them into ant hole entrances and set them off. Even me! <>
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And this is not the end. Many other scenes and stories flash before my eyes; Children given bb guns and sent off to shoot up nature, anything in sight. Precious ducklings or chicks given by beneficent parents to their beaming offspring at Easter, no one thinking about what these tiny beings need to survive. Inner city teens on an outward bound adventure in Pictured Rocks State Park, smashing spawning fish in a creek by throwing large rocks on them, with the adult counselors conveniently missing at the moment.<>
As you are reading this, you no doubt remembered things you have seen or done, some worse than these. It is painful to see what we humans do to each other, and to other living things. Sometimes we do these things out of ignorance, not intentionally. That’s the ‘good news’. However, what is most tragic about these events is that these are mild acts compared to the many things that happen every day around the world. Acts which range all the way to deliberate cruelty, and include systemic, institutionally maintained violence, perpetrated upon innocent children, animals, women, people of color, other ‘nationalities’, gays, of the ‘wrong religion’, etc., and even Mother Earth herself. <>
In reminds me so sadly of what William Wordsworth wrote in 1798:<>
“To her fair works did Nature link,<>
the human soul that through me ran;<>
and much it grieved my heart to think<>
what man as made of man” (1)<>
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This article is a plea for consideration of a world where we truly live in a state of ‘unity” with each other, and with all around us. A world where we live and we act in full consciousness, aware and careful that the effect of our actions on others is not harmful, indeed maybe even helpful. Where we do our best. We may not reach that ideal state in our lifetime, but living with that goal in mind WILL change the world for the better.<>
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This article is also a prayer that we truly help our children grow up to be the that kind of adult. Individuals who chose to be kind and recognize their place in connection with all others with whom they share a home in a loving universe, and who seek to live in harmony and unity with others. <>
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Unity can be defined as living in conscious oneness with each other and all living things. Start with the basic knowledge that the Earth is our ‘mother’, bountifully providing what we need to live: food, shelter, water, warmth, resources, a home. Next consider all of Earth’s beauty and magic, which inspires, calms, rejuvenates, and raises us out of the narrow focus of self alone. When we are in Nature, in a quiet and observant way, we remember that part of us that is ‘spiritual’ and which connects us to the web of Life. We can feel a connectedness and a peace in the presence of Nature, whether it be the song of a meadowlark returning to the field in Spring, a glimpse of a doe and her spotted fawn splashing in a creek, or simply the warmth of the sun on our face. In moments like this , we may have experienced ourselves to be ‘one with’ all that is.<>
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Yet there is more to this concept of connectedness. We must consider those with whom we share this Earth. There is a Native American phrase, which for me addresses this “Mitakuye Oyasin” , or ‘ALL My Relations”. I did not grow up within the Native tradition of which these words are a part, nor do I know all the teach behind it. However, these words are powerful in my life, and I am grateful to those who keep speaking them. For me these words remind me that everything that lives (or exists) is part of my family. I am in sacred relationship with them. Another traditional teaching is that we are all part of the ‘web of life’. In this web is the earth herself, her waters, air, mountains, rivers, including the ‘rock people’, the ‘tree people’, etc., and of course all living things. The web of interconnectedness is broad, and inclusive of all. Do we routinely consider that any action we take affects the entire web? Just as touching any part of the spider web ripples through the whole? Shouldn’t our children also be asked to think about the distinct possibility that just maybe, that frog wants to stay living right where it is, not in a little jar because we want it? What right do they have to take control of other life?<>
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Where do we see ourselves in this picture?
We might start there. Do we feel at home
as part of this web of life. Or do we see ourselves as outside, or
only focused on our lives, our family, our jobs.
Do we REALLY consider that the earth, water and air we pollute today
is the same water and air that we ourselves will drink and breathe
tomorrow?
I am reminded of the time that I sat in circle with Dr. Camilla
Martinez, an amazing person who chooses to lead the way to oneness.
She is an ethno botanist, ayurvedic doctor, curandera, and
anti-nuclear activist, among much else). She
spoke of being invited to dialog with the scientists working at Los
Alamos, to discuss the destructive health impacts that radioactive
contamination was having on the native populations living near this
massive nuclear facility. Since they did not care
about contamination affecting other people, she reminded them that
the same contamination was affecting their own children and
families. They could not ‘hear’ this either.
Their careers, theories, and status in the scientific community were
all they cared about. Their focus and was on
their work, they were wrapped up in their own little world and
ignored that anyone was being harmed by their actions.
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Similar “blinders” are worn by each of in some aspect of our lives. How do become conscious adults with clear vision? How do we keep our minds open to seeing the effects of all of our actions, and to care about what happens to others around us? I believe that if we live in unity with ‘all our relations’, we would ask different questions that the Los Alamos scientists. We would also be more open to truth. Guiding us would be love and concern, not only ambition and personal gain. Recycling is a simple example. Do we recycle whenever possible, or only when it is really easy, or not at all? Do we stop to ever think about the effect on our earth of so many garbage dumps/sanitary landfills? What about all the life (birds, frogs, plants, animals, trees, etc.) displaced or killed when we claimed that land for waste containment. Where will our children find WILD places in the future. A park built on top of a landfill is a dismal replacement for the magical wild place that once existed there.<>
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How did we become an adult that is blind to the web around us? How were we ‘brought up’, what messages did we hear or not hear that allowed us to become less caring of life than we could be. The first place to start our change is to become aware of our own values and beliefs, and work with ourselves to become more aware and caring of the effects we have on the world and others.<>
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Where do we start to raise our children well? First we must look at how we ourselves live. Do we care about our children truly? Do we care about our neighbors? Are we prejudiced against ‘any’ other group of people? Do we accept full responsibility for all life forms dependent on us (our companion animals, the insects, plants, animals, birds that may reside with us on our home property?). Do we recognize that our very food comes from animals that also feel pain and pleasure, fear and connection? It is important to answer these questions, and then change our practices to fit our beliefs, as our children to a great extent model themselves after us. Their first lessons, and often the most lasting , are from us, the adults they live with. We must also be aware of the effects of our childrens’ activities, the media, their peers, and the world around our children, as all this amplifies and modifies our messages as parents. <>
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The next important step in raising our children well is to talk with them about their beliefs and help them get to know themselves, just as we have to know ourselves. In addition to what we ourselves do, what we say is also of utmost importance. A recent study of religious beliefs of university students (2) about the transmission of values related to religion reported that it was not enough to just model positive beliefs and actions. The study found that regular, specific conversations about religious beliefs gave students a more accurate perception of what their parents actually believed, which strongly influenced their childrens’ beliefs. The same mechanisms are at work with any beliefs, not just religion. Do we want our children to grow up to think for themselves? Asking your children questions in open minded manner may bring more awareness than questions that judge and create limitations? Allowing children to attend to their inner personal experience will help create an individual who is a conscious co-creator in this world, rather than someone who is a pawn to the system, the advertising, or dogma,<>
Examples of where they can ‘tune in’ are abundant, but in addition
to how they treat animals and nature, can include
how they or their friends treat others at school, to classmates who
might be from a different ethnic group, or have weight issues, or
who just aren’t in their ‘clique’. <>
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Any belief or action that keeps us from
recognizing that we truly are all ‘ONE’ cuts us off from our
birthright of being connected to all of life. I
believe it is ours, and our childrens’ birthright to recognize and
feel at home in the circle of Life. Let us help our children hold
onto their birthright and walk together with them and all our
relations.
Let’s make this world a better place for all!
Mitakuye Oyasin! <>
References<>
(1) The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth. MacMillan & Co.Ltd.1913<>
(2) Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 20 92:273-294, 2000.<>
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