Monday, March 21, 2011

Musical Mondays - Earth Song


Devastation is everywhere these days it seems. From the recent earthquakes in Chile and New Zealand to the floods of Australia. And of course still fresh in our minds and hearts, the triple whammy in Japan. An 8.9 quake which really you might as well call a 9 which in turn triggered the tremendous tsunami, which in turn caused the potential for a catastrophic meltdown at the nuclear plant.  (touch any of the links above to go to Global Giving)


It seems to be a constant occurrence these days. Is Mother Nature attempting to gain our attention? I wonder sometimes. Man has lived on this wonderful planet for many years and in the course of that time how good have we been to that which we call our home.

The other night as I was flipping channels in an attempt to find something "worth" watching, I fell upon the series "Ax Men" As I watched one of the men explain how all the "good" trees were no longer available for harvesting so they had to go up to remote areas in British Columbia to gather their prey. No they did not call it prey yet that is how I felt it to be. These areas could only be accessed via river transport and required the men to stay isolated for months. I watched as magnificent trees who had graced their stance for hundreds of years were taken down.

Granted I do know that wood is somewhat essential for some things yet I also know that so much of it is wasted. I see building built only at a not so later date to be torn down to make way for another. I receive tons and tons of "junk" mail daily only to toss it in the trash. I do not know about any of you but it seems that we are telephone book poor in my area. On a yearly basis we receive at least 6 to 7 phone books. The excess can be found stacked high in the lobby of the post office as well as weathering away in the many driveways which many are dropped off in.

Each time I see such sights I can only think of the trees who have to give of themselves so that we can have too much excess. One phone book is fine with me and if I do not know a number, 411 always works just as well. As for the junk mail (catalogues, advertisements, and just plain nothing mail) keep it. I am ashamed of the number of catalogues that grace my doorstep. Although I enjoy browsing through them I would gladly do without so that a tree might live a bit longer.

Then there is the concern about the ground water. I do not know if many of you take notice to this topic, yet it is a serious issue. I truly believe it is more serious than many realize. Water... simple water which is pure and clean and absent of deterrents is not as readily available as some may think. Man's desire to dig into the earth so that he might have more oil and/or gas than another has caused much of the water supply to become tainted. Then there is the run off that comes from the many factories that are built alongside our beautiful lakes and streams.

The nuclear issue at hand in Japan is a wonderful example of this. Sea water flushed inside in an attempt to cool the nuclear reactors, only to be swept back out to sea. I am not a nuclear scientist, yet I would think that some form of radiation would accompany that sea water when it did return. What will such contaminants do to the abundant water life and vegetation that is to be ultimately supported by this said water. We can see some of this impact from last year's oil spill in the Gulf as well as the many others that have occurred over the past years.

And to think I have only covered water and trees. I know that it is man's venture to keep striving towards perfection and a better life and/or a better gadget. Yet when will the cost of such a venture be taken into consideration. When will we take the time to look at what is happening to the simple things that surround us because of the bigger things that are happening.

I am planting a garden this year in a hope of having my own vegetables that I know will not be sprayed with pesticides as well as injected with hormones and what not. Yet what about the particles that float on the wind and eventually settle somewhere. What about the contaminated ground water that I will water my garden with. Yes I have a better chance of having a cleaner crop yet will it be 100% safe? Unfortunately, no!! The days of such a way of life are gone.


It is my fear that in time this world that we call home will not be able to sustain the abuse that man keeps inflicting upon it. It is my fear that man will look past the little things that when looked upon individually are not much yet when piled upon one another is a mountain of destruction.
It is time that we take the time to do what is right. The earth is crying. I only wonder if there are enough of us who can still hear her.

8 comments:

Eliza said...

Wonderful post Mother Moon. The Earth song always makes me cry. I suppose all we can do is our little bit and hope it makes a difference.

Aine O'Brien said...

great post. It is so true and yet, it's hard to come up with a solution. I hate losing trees for paper products, yet plastic has replaced a lot of these and the manufacture and disposal of it is pollution the Earth more than anyone realizes - and not all plastic (in fact much of it) cannot and is not recycled. And it is in EVERYTHING - even in the lining of cans!! But I digress. The core problem here is that humans are always in need of more. Most are never truly satisfied, and as in this society of supply and demand, the CONSUMER is the only one with the real power. If we stop consuming what we do not need - if we stop associating material possessions with our happiness (even though they never truly satisfy enough to prevent us from wanting more and more and more) then maybe the demand for these goods will lower and any harm done to the earth in this production will start to lessen. Today our buying (or non buying) power is the only power we have. If every gave a few minutes of thought to their purchases, shopped wisely and with thought to the welfare of the Earth, we might see some change. (for example look at the organic food demand and how it is changing farming.) We are not powerless - but in order to effect change we have to be willing to make personal changes as well.

sorry so long!!

Aisha @The Bewitching Bibliophile said...

I have loved MJ my whole life I still remember the day I turned on the tv and saw this video, I felt all the way to my bones, I have it on my cellphone and my ipod and i listen to it all the time on my computer. this song doesn't get a lot of play because of the deeper message it demands we think about and many are unwilling to open their minds and hearts and truly listen. The goddess is asking for our help and many have ignored her, now she is showing the other side of the Mother, she can't protect us from the consequences of our own greed. Hurrican Katrina should have served as a warning about what happens when you remove what seems to serve no purpose, those groves would have once helped to cut that 20 foot wave, and hold back much of the water, preventing it from overwhelming the levees, but we in our infinite wisdom removed many of the trees, and our manmade alternative failed in the presence of the mother nature's fury and people paid with their lives.

Each tree creates a network of millions of roots that help to hold the earth in place, when we remove those trees we increase the chances of mudslides, and unfortunetly things like what happens in Brazil and Chile take place.

It makes me sad to see the destruction and I wonder daily will we learn or will we have to end uo as our great literary minds have foretold, fighting for water, and desperately seeking other alternatives. I don't understand why many people would seek to wait until we have slide over the cliff to attempt to change course instead of never going over the cliff in the first place.

Excellent post thanks so much for touching on this subject

Wendy said...

What a perfect song and post to honor the earth and the great sadness that most humans can't realize how sacred she is. With all this talk of 2012, I can't help but think that we need to be doing more to transform our relationship with her if we're to survive. I don't think the "end of the world" is going to happen the way some people believe in 2012 but clearly a wake up call needs to be sounded for the highest good of all. You always echo the sacredness of our relationship with Earth Mother. Thank you...

audrey said...

Janie,
This is such a profound post. I am typing this in tears. What we have done and continue to do to our dear beautiful Earth is unforgivable. We need to be strong in numbers to sound out and make others realize the importance of changing our way of life to save our Earth.
We need more than one EARTH DAY each year to get people thinking!!
This is a sad post, Janie, but it is a wake up call. We can save the beauty that is still here.
Thank you. I wish this post could be in all the newspapers and every media outlet possible, worldwide.
♥ audrey

Anonymous said...

Oh Mother Moon, your words are so devastatingly true. For the world of man seems destined to destroy this magnificent planet we call home. More voices like your should be heard. Blessings to you.

Ponderosa Pagan said...

Well said Mother Moon. The Earth seems to me to have had it with people. If we will not listen to her still soft voice she will speak louder. I think she is trying to get people to listen. I hope humans listen bc I am sure our lives depend on it. I just read an amazing book called Toxic Tourism by Phaedra Pezzullo. Opened my eyes. I have made it a common practice in rituals to do healing for the Earth. Remember she will outlast all of us even after a nuclear meltdown. She will outlast humans. All we can do is do our part for her!
ps
Head on over to my blog to eneter to win! I remember when I won one of your giveaways, it was a joy. Happy to offer my first one!

Blessed be!

Theresa MacNaughton said...

Beautiful post yet again. I try never to take the earth for granted. Everything we have here given to us is a gift - and it saddens me to see it abused so often. Thanks for an insightful post. Theresa