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THE AMAZON FOREST - Sacred Heart of the Earth
The earth grieves the loss of a part of her that can never return. And as the species that are vulnerable move from an ‘endangered’ status to an ‘extinct’ status, she grieves as for a dear part of herself that is being left behind.
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We know that the Amazon forest is essential to the wellbeing of the planet.
We know that its forests breathe vital air into the earth’s ecosphere, and that its land and trees house a diversity of species unequalled in number upon the earth.
And yet what we do not know is that this forest, this acreage that extends for thousands of miles, cannot be replaced easily. That what once disappears through extinction will not be identically reproduced ever, for the conditions that produced it cannot be matched. These conditions have changed and are changing. While the Amazon may heal itself if human practices that prevent such healing do not continue, it will not bring back that precise diversity of life that has been there from time immemorial. It will bring into being new forms of life, each being ensouled through the Divine intention of the Creator, but it will not bring back that which has become part of its historic past.
The earth grieves this loss. It grieves the loss of a part of her that can never return. And as the species that are vulnerable move from an ‘endangered’ status to an ‘extinct’ status, she grieves as for a dear part of herself that is being left behind.
Hear the cries of the grieving earth. Feel the loss within your own heart, for it is human indifference with respect to the sacred life of the forest itself that is the cause of this loss.
Today, it is known that the palm trees that are found in the Amazon are beginning to produce smaller seeds, seeds that have less of a likelihood of reproducing. This evolutionary adjustment, some say, is caused by the loss of habitat of the larger animals who carried the palm seeds from one location to another, allowing new trees to grow in new locations. These larger animals, having lost their natural habitat due to warming temperatures and deforestation, can no longer carry the palm seeds for planting. And so it is surmised that the palm trees have begun to produce smaller seeds so that the smaller animals that are still part of its local ecosystem could carry them away in their travels and deposit them in fertile soil. Nevertheless, the small seeds are not as viable as the larger, and so the palm trees may also begin to decrease in number, and they, too, may become an endangered species.
The earth cries out for her palm trees and for the animals that have lost their homes because of indifferent practices to the ancient forest. She asks all to hear her cries, to know that there is no action in relation to the earth that does not matter. All actions either contribute to her greater health or detract from it. There is no such thing as standing apart.
The earth knows, as all who are in human form do not yet know, that there is only one body, and that all are part of it. Each member of that body has an effect on the whole, whether knowingly or not. The leg may not know that it is part of an entire human organism, but it is affected by the blood and oxygen that flow through it from the heart and lungs, and by the kidneys that discharge waste in the ways they are meant to. The leg can also affect the overall functioning of the entire human body when it is inflamed, infected, swollen, or carrying a disease of some kind. All conditions that happen to the part, happen to the whole, and so it is with the earth’s body as well.
The deterioration and desecration of the Amazon forest is a great loss, and for the palm trees that are already producing smaller, less viable seeds, it has already begun in a significant way.
Let us hear the earth’s cries. Let us respond to them from out deepest hearts which shun indifference but remain in relationship to the life of the world at all times. Let us be conscious of the habitation that we share – the Divine gift that has been so graciously offered to us as a home that we are asked to treat with reverence and respect.
For there is no turning aside from this request, there is no pretending that it is not needed. We must forgo our sense of isolation in order to respond to the earth’s call to unity, for it is her time, it is her life, and we are part of it whether we choose to be in full consciousness or not.
May the holy Earth be blessed, and may all beings come to know their oneness within the one body that contains all.
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