What On Earth Are We Doing?

I have this dream-that one day all of paradise that has been paved over with asphalt, all of the malls and mini-malls and strip malls will one day be leveled and each segment of the earth below will be replanted and restored to its original form and once again be home to field and fauna – to the habitat of indigenous wildlife all at peace and glistening in the sunlight, surrounded by fresh air and clean waterways.

Main Street America will remain intact and flourish with the banks, post offices, restaurants, shops, churches, and the history that they were built upon. Folks will come back to sitting on their front porches, strolling Main Street and enjoying life. The earth will be renewed.

As I stretch my vision across the land- and drive from here to there- I see the ‘strip-mall’ culture in a state of constant decline. Store after store are closing- repetitive merchandize stores aren’t able to stay alive or current in the online shopping culture.  Acre upon acre of parking lots paved in blacktop stand empty with a whisper of the memory of the beauty once held there.  It is there that I see the mirage of what once was. The woodlands, the wetlands, the wild.

Before any more natural land is cleared the current reality needs to catch up with current construction and destruction. We need to use what is already here before more of our natural habitats are destroyed- solving the Rubik Cube of reality and seeing there is no longer a need for a single additional strip mall. 

We have been gifted with this beautiful earth not to rape and pillage but to protect and preserve. We are the stewards of the earth- here to take care of the wildlife not to have dominion over them. But look around and see what has been done! In 500 short years we have turned paradise into a parking lot, a mini-mall, a powerplant, a megastore. We have pushed our neighbors-the deer and fox and pheasant- out of their homes, we have surrounded ourselves with fences and cattle-grates and tall hedges to insulate ourselves from the very earth from which we were created. We have generated new islands of plastic swirling around in once the pristine oceans of life.

Perhaps we can all become a vocal force for change- perhaps we can start in our own homes and neighborhoods and then push onward. We can put that can in the recycle bin. We can use earth sustainable products in our homes. We can plant native plants and butterfly gardens… we can pick up trash on beach walks. I know, I know, we feel small against the tides of civilization! We feel small in a world of 8 billion! But we are all that the earth has to protect her. We are it! We are the force for change and we each have a choice and a voice and a call. Every day is earth day!