This past Saturday was a dreary rainy day, and I am not sure if that is what sparked my mood and in turn this post. So just driving along, running some errands with the fam, and I noticed a bunch of construction that is happening. Nothing new, this is a pretty major construction project in our area. But what caught me this time seeing the construction was a new batch of trees that the workers had cut down. Again nothing new, seen this all too many times before. But for some reason this time it hurt a little bit more. I think because of the way it looked like the trees had just been tossed into a pile with no regard. Now don't get me wrong here. I know I cannot stop this construction project, and that is not my goal. But these trees had been destroyed for this new stretch of highway but no one was thanking them. OK where am I going with this? I had been in a pretty heated, not argument, but debate the other day with a friend (definitely not a family member) about life on Earth. One side of this debate was about placing value on certain types of living things. On this side of the debate, humans were valued the most, placed at the top, because of all our emotions, and thought processes, and morals etc. My side of the debate, which I know I did not get across very well, was that as these thoughtful humans we should know better than placing a value on certain living things, instead we should offer an equal respect to all life. From the tiny bacteria that do great (and sometimes bad, and the bad ones we should respect even more) things to the trees, and animals (people included). My point was that without all these things, that some people feel superior to, we would not and could not exist. All life is interwoven and connected in some way, and that needs to be respected, if for no other reason than for our own survival. I am no scientist and I am certainly no philosopher, but I do understand a basic concept, respecting all life is survival. There is no need to place a value on certain kinds of living things, because every living thing is important, and preserving a respect for life will help us (silly humans) to continue living. In the book, The Prophet, by Kahil Gibran, there is a short chapter called Eating and Drinking. In this chapter it says (and I am paraphrasing here) if you must kill to eat, let that be an act of worship and thank the animal, or plant, for what it will provide for you. I think that applies here to those poor trees, and to all life. We must thank those trees that were cut down. Not toss them aside. We must understand that yes change is going to happen and make changes to our planet. But what we are taking away we need to respect and be thankful towards. Those trees (and I would like to add oceans here) are major life supporters for all animals. Lets understand that we need them and be thoughtful and respectful of those lives, regardless of if they can talk or have morals, and we should thank them when we use them. Maybe then we can save ourselves. Maybe then we will know we cannot always take, and understand that sometimes giving is necessary. It is understanding these simple concepts of lifes' connectedness, and respecting it, in order to save all life. Stepping down from soap box. Now go hug a tree and thank your hamburger. We can talk about a veggie lifestyle another time :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7ZGevA4T5E&feature=related
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