Mother Nature

Just who is Mother Nature? When I encounter this term, it is usually somebody talking about the weather. There is more to life than weather. Somewhere out there in space is a giant rock. I've heard that the source of the asteroids is a planet that broke up eons ago when the solar system was being formed. No matter what its source might be, every few million years one of those rocks hits the earth. The last time any rock of a size capable of leaving a mark on the earth was in 1908 in Siberia. It left a forest flattened in much the same way that Mt. St. Helens flattened the forest around it when the volcano blew up. The dinosaurs can tell you that its no fun when a big rock hits us; only those with wings survived. Getting back to that giant rock, it has our name stenciled on it. Someday it will take a trip and land on our planet. When it does there will be no place on earth to hide from its effects. However, there is a bright side. It is called evolution. This is a term that our religious right dislikes. They think that it proves that God does not exist. I suggest that it has nothing to do with the existence of God one way or the other, but it has a lot to do with the survival of life on earth. Why do I say this? It is because the last time a rock of any size hit the earth, that rock killed the dinosaurs but it did not kill our ancestors. They survived and ultimately morphed into the human race. What's so bad about that? To put it bluntly you would not be here to read this if that rock had not done its job. Why do I say this? Imagine running into a T Rex on the way to the grocery store. That's as much as need be said on the subject. The other side of the coin, however, is not so pleasant. What happens to us if the same rock hits the same location? I am not certain, but I anticipate that we will join the dinosaurs in perdition. We are not immune to the same result that they suffered through. This should give us pause. We have a brain, and if we use it we can prepare to save ourselves from this result. Is this an important goal? The dinosaurs would be a good guide in answering this question. They just stood there and took it, and we all know how that turned out. Our ancestors survived because they lived under ground and had a small diet. The point of this posting is not to urge you to prepare for an asteroid. The point is otherwise. I am suggesting that we need to take Mother Nature a good deal more seriously than we do at present. We need to start the process of learning how to live with her. You might think that we are already doing so, and on a superficial level, you would be correct. However, we are not doing enough; not nearly enough. The gnostic searches for God. Perhaps in the search for God, we can include the search for Mother Nature as well. Perhaps in doing so we will be looking in the same places. Perhaps in doing so we will grow up and stop acting like children. If it sounds like I am asking the literalistic religions to grow up, I am.