The Importance of Remaining Connected to Nature

Many adults can’t accept the fact that anything they do in their daily lives could possibly affect the climate of the entire world. And many children aren’t even aware that our food does not come from supermarkets, it comes from the Earth.

In today’s world many of us have become so isolated from nature that it is difficult for us to feel any connection with it. And when we don’t feel a connection with nature it is impossible to understand its vital life-giving importance to our lives. It is then easier to turn a deaf ear to the realities of global warming, dimming of the sun, nuclear proliferation, melting of the ice caps and other potentially damaging and destructive issues that could destroy our life support system.

It is easy to see how many otherwise caring people may have developed such confused and laissez-faire attitudes. First of all, a lot of the information is difficult to understand—and how or when these changes will affect us is still being debated. This causes a lot of people to incorrectly discount the facts. When faced with awkward and discomforting information, people will tend to take the easy way out and ignore it so they don’t have to deal with it.

Many of us also live in homes that are protected against heat and cold, with many modern conveniences, which lulls people into a false sense of security that man has successfully harnessed nature. At the same time they hope that the minds that brought us the Internet and a steady flow of high-tech toys will also save the day by turning to technology.

It would be naïve and unrealistic to ignore the fact that America’s corporations continue their obsession with profit at any price, which is one of the major deterrents to the U.S. becoming involved in a global approach to this problem. It is only a matter of time, however, before our nation has to face the harsh realities before us.

Meanwhile, the wise native peoples around the world continue to remind us that we’re at the critical point of no-return right now and unless we wake up and begin to take care of the Earth the results will be irreversible. For centuries their prophecies have foretold of a time when man’s activities would cause the trees to die, the once soothing breezes to become deadly and the sun to lose its relationship with the Earth. They believe that time is now and this eerily confirms what the scientists are telling us.

To the people who have remained connected to nature, the Earth isn’t just symbolically our mother—it is our Mother. It supplies us with what we need for food, shelter and life, and gives us our connection with the greater cycle of life.

The native peoples have been warning us that in our growing disconnection and disregard for nature, we are playing Russian roulette with the future of the Earth—and the destiny of humanity. They believe one of the planet’s sacred functions is to continue and expand the process of Creation.

They also point out that the Earth has an incredible ability to balance and heal itself. It could do that at any time just by flicking us off this planet—as easily as a horse’s tail swishes off a fly. We need to listen!
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Copyright 2007 by Fern Stewart Welch

The author’s book THE HEART KNOWS THE WAY—How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within is available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.