While watching coverage of Hurricane Ian’s recent and violent assault on parts of Florida, I found it hard to imagine the massive devastation. Peoples’ homes were totally obliterated and they lost so much of what was dear to them. It is a sad situation. The reality is that Earth has always produced hurricanes. Building our cities and towns in their known paths is risky. There are many reasons that science can provide for these types of events, but I cannot help wondering if our human collective karma has brought about divine restitution.
We have clear cut millions of acres of forest, plowed land for farming, and displaced millions of other species from their homes. Let us not forget the Native Americans and the buffalo from whom we also stole and plundered. Many Floridians may have lost their homes, yet it is as nothing compared to the immeasurable number of species that have been cast out of their homes by human encroachment.
Our vain belief that this Earth should belong only to our own species, and the ones we choose to domesticate, is an erroneous belief. We have caused irreparable harm to others. We have destroyed their habitat, erradicated and poisoned their food sources. We have outright exterminated others and slaughtered thousands on our highways. We have caused suffering beyond comprehension and we have been the cause of extinction for some. Our greed and our selfishness has spread like a disease, not only to each other, but to all living things.
Earth is home to all of us, but we have not remembered to give thanks for all she has provided for us. We have only taken, and taken, and taken – with no thought of giving back. How many hurricanes, how many more droughts, and how many more floods will it take to bring us to our knees? We often hear about our national debt. Some of us have accumulated personal debt; however, it is our karmic debt about which we should be concerned. We need to start caring about the good of all, rather than a few.
Many people today are living in a constant state of anxiety and fear. Instead of lamenting our own losses, we can begin to pay back our karmic debt, by taking care of our planet. We can begin to give back to Mother Earth and adopt an attitude of gratitude for all she has provided. Instead of declaring that life is unfair, we can be thankful for the most basic gift she has given us – the gift of life itself. We need to treat even our air, our water, and our soil with reverence. It is only by appreciating and caring for what we have that we can take steps towards repaying the astronomical karmic debt that we have incurred.
