I have never paid attention to Earth Day.  April 22, set aside to pay homage to the home which we share with all living beings as been on the periphery of my awareness.  No longer.  The global condition that we now find ourselves, searching for a treatment, a vaccine for the covid-19 virus — is another symptom of our abuse of the earth.  Multitudes live in such proximity to Nature, viruses will jump from animals to humans.  And this is common knowledge.

Humans by shear numbers, by the lifestyle which we prefer, ravenous of energy, addicted to excess and luxury  — has proven to be disruptive of natural cycles of atmosphere, and ocean currents, toxic to the earth and water.

I have acquaintances, who recognize these effects, — their response has been, “So what?”  To their minds it has always been thus, from the dawn of civilization until the present.  Nature is vast enough, resilient enough to absorb the effect of humankind.  Life will continue as it always has.  In their minds and hearts, Nature is a repository of booty, for plunder.  To live well is to extract as much as one is able, maximize to the limit your good fortune, — never mind tailings left behind when the strip mining is finished, or when fracking for natural gas has poisoned the ground water….

These individuals are superficially fine citizens.  They are not in the habit of feeling empathy for the oceans, the deserts, or the plains where we grow much of the grain for our bread.  They do not have an empathic link to the earth.

Who am I to judge?  I am not necessarily more intelligent, nor more ethical.  We simply must begin to draw a line, to make the judgment.  Enough!  We must change our expectations, and search for sustainable ways of meeting our basic needs.  Look around, at what we have, and what is vanishing with the droughts, the floods, the pollution of plastic filling the oceans.

Judgment must take the form of voting for politicians who aggressively advocate policies for a green economy.  Judgment must take the form of speaking with children at every opportunity, sharing our wonder at life, our delight at the diversity of goodness,  at gifts of the earth benefiting humankind.  Judgment begins with cultivating a posture of thankfulness, every day.  Life is a matter of choices.   The path that I take is created by the aggregate of my choices, and those of others.  The future is in our hands.  We must believe it.  It is true.  This is our home.  We cannot leave for another.

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Yesterday I moved wheelbarrows of mulch, spreading the hardwood residue between the bushes, the flowers that are emerging.  While I worked I listened to songs on one of my Spotify playlists.  I was reminded that many of those songs were recommended by individuals that I briefly worked with, or had been associated with in some other way.  Hearing a song reminded me of the person who shared their love of that particular tune.  They have passed out of my live but the song remains, a residue of their contribution to the individual I now am.

This song I have loved since my teenage years.  I remember vividly hearing it performed live, while double dating with a good friend, at the Duke University indoor Cameron stadium.  The sensation of hearing the soaring harmonies as the Four Seasons performed Rag Doll was life changing.  In that moment I knew without doubt that it was good to be alive.

Could the harmonies expressed in the vocals of Rag Doll, be related to the harmonies found in Nature?  What do you think?