Earth's Power
I’m sorry, God but I cannot conceive of your existence. I do have one conclusion of which I am confident: the level of spirituality and enlightenment that I seek is not offered by the God that is touted by Christianity. I think I’ve come to a personal conclusion that I’m an agnostic. I render myself lacking the mental, emotional and spiritual faculties necessary to conceive of the characteristics of a higher power and I also have no knowledge of its existence should there be one. I declare I would only ever worship an incorrect being as I can guarantee my view on any god shall be incorrect. I acknowledge I am a logical and rational being so I want something tangible that I can view as bigger than myself – just to ensure I don’t get too big for my boots as a human.
As a simpleton, therefore, I’ve formed my own solution for the intellectually and spiritually challenged: the Earth. I hereby unabashedly declare myself an environmentalist. To me it’s passionate, scientific, moral, considerate and aligned with all other planetary inhabitants whilst acknowledging the Earth as being mysterious, unpredictable, predictable, dangerous, safe, awe-inspiring, fragile, diverse, sustaining, despairing, ever-changing, etc, etc, etc. These are all the attributes that I previously had in mind for a god anyway. This way, I can revere and protect and worship something tangible without labels that would distance me from other humans.
“God” and “Allah” and “Jehovah” and “Buddah” and all others divide humanity. Earth cannot divide humanity because we all live here. I accept that I am misdirected in my worship but I know that if there is a “real” higher power, it will accept my mental limitations and forgive my obvious stupidity.
When I’m struggling to cope with life, I run desperately to the Earth. There is no greater comfort to me than being prostrate with the scent of dirt and grass in my nostrils while ants negotiate my form. I can feel the breath of the wind and the whisper of the leaves as they dance together. The sun shines lazily through drifting clouds, casting shadows through branches of tall eucalypts. The birds chatter and then noisily chastise the incessantly barking dog that is disturbing the horses in the field. The spider spins its web silently in defiance of the damage from the falling twig. The fly narrowly evades capture in the silky snare. Still the ants crawl and are jostled by other bugs in the blades of grass. My body warms the soil and the grass contours to my body in acceptance of my presence. I am part of the Earth and Earth accepts me. I am filled with belonging and a natural contentment that often belies my social circumstances. When my spirit is calmed and sustained, I reluctantly return to my Western way of life. The spider suspiciously eyes the bird who’s now cocking its head in my direction. The leaves in the trees maintain their dance as the ants are rapidly retreating from my shadow. The soil cools and the grass reverts back to its vertical salute to the sun now I’m gone. There’s no evidence that I was there yet I felt welcomed and fully accepted for that period. That is true communion for the body, mind and spirit.
I do not have to drink Jesus’ blood or consume his body to achieve a sense of spirituality. I do it by being one with the Earth. I don’t do it every second Sunday with a pastor and some ancient book. I can do it every day by catching a glimpse of Earth through a window or by hearing the simple sound of rain, wind, animals, children laughing, crickets chirruping, a rooster crowing. A sense of humility comes from being so uneducated about Earth. Even if I spent the rest of my life educating myself on the Earth, I shall never discover its secrets or all of its inhabitants. That is humbling but satisfying as I don’t feel the compulsion to scientifically acquaint myself with all elements or compounds for understanding.
If I live out my existence with Earth as my “supreme ruler” will it be detrimental to those around me? I don’t see how. If I worship Earth and seek to honour it, do I feel that it is at odds with my moral conscience? No, I certainly don’t. I feel as though I am honouring humanity and all species by honouring Earth. I feel as though I can learn from Earth and its mysterious workings. If I abolish the concept of good and evil, fully engage my moral conscience and make Earth my authority, I feel that I will grow and learn about myself, my spirituality and humanity as a whole and find wonderment in Earth’s mysteries.
Earth does not berate itself for its natural inclinations. Earth does what it does and accepts its functions in all capacities. There is no pride, disappointment, vindication, supremecy, etc. There just is. I will aim to follow this lead and honour my own natural human instincts. Is it possible for all people to follow Earth’s example a bit more? We live in a land where the Aboriginal peoples existed here for tens of thousands of years; probably some excellent knowledge to embrace. Maybe people can stop thinking with a “good versus evil championship battle” mentality? Could a human even consider that a moral conscience is actually inbuilt in our species and a dependence on religion is not required? Other species on this planet do not classify things as good or bad or worship ancient manuscripts for perceived enlightenment. Why does the human race largely avoid its instinct and seek to overly complicate its own existence? Why do humans feel compelled to classify the differences between each other rather than find the commonality?