11 DECEMBER 2023 DELUDED

I often wonder what a visitor from outer space would make of our planet, with its miles and miles and miles of fences. We are a species that does not work or play well with others. The “me” and “my” mentality begins at about age two and we go forth into life believing that ownership will make us happy. We delude ourselves into believing that the more land, houses, people, and pets we own, the more powerful we will be. Although slavery has been abolished, there are those who falsely believe that they “own” their children; and in some cultures, men believe that they own their wives. This sickly desire to own and to control has resulted in an illegal pet trade and in the abuse of millions of domestic dogs, cats, and horses. Many people spend their lives acquiring, accumulating, and surrounding themselves in possessions that become like a fortress, giving them a false sense of security.

We have row upon row of houses separated by fences and miles of public lands with “no trespassing” signs. We have “gated” communities. Our forests have been sacrificed to farmland and the fences surrounding the farms have fragmented the land – so much so that other species can no longer carry on with their migrations, or find the food and habitat that is necessary for their survival. They can no longer travel from one point to another without crossing a dangerous highway, or being stopped altogether by fences. A few hundred years ago, settlers could cross from one side of this country to the other, hindered only by mountain ranges or rivers. Indigenous people traveled from one area to the other for centuries, living in harmony with the land. Our relationship to the land was aptly stated in a documentary I watched on Appalachia, “We did not inherit the forests from our ancestors – we borrowed them from our children.”

Some of us are buying our own homes. Some already own several properties. Others rent their homes. A piece of paper called a title, convinces us that we own a property. This is all an illusion of course. Once we die and discard our body, whatever we falsely believed that we owned is no longer ours. Liability falls upon all of us. It makes no difference if we rent, or believe we “own” the land we occupy. It is our duty and privilege to treat it as sacred space. Our planet is more sacred than any church or synagogue we may enter. Until we fully understand that we have been gifted the responsibility of caring for our planet, we will remain completely deluded.