What do we stand for?
I suppose I ought to define ‘we’.
No, not all of us (circa 8 billion) but just the people who know me or know of me.
And when I ask what we stand for, I’m not talking about the labels we’ve carried with us down the aeons but what we view as life or death.
Perhaps it’s an impossible question.
Succinctly put, we might say honesty, integrity, kindness et al. but when the earth, by dint of our anthropocentric actions, is dying or at least being substantially and irreconcilably changed, what do these things even mean?
What?
Well, what’s the point of trying to be the best version of ourselves or trying to stand for something when it’s only adding to the earth’s woes?
In the end, perhaps we don’t need to stand for anything more than being 100% true to the person we are before god. No, not that geezer in the sky but accepting that we’re the same as or no better than all other life forms on this planet — sentient or otherwise.
That doesn’t mean we ascribe to the misanthrope’s clarion call to rid the world of all humans but perhaps we need to re-examine the idea that we’re not the Crown of Creation but something much less exotic or clever.
If then we might operate from a place of being humble and humbled before nature, meaning we wouldn’t see her as something to possess, exploit and take for granted as we have and continue to do so.
Blessings,
Julian