This Earth Is Our Heaven
February 20, 2011
I initially had lots of ideas about what I believe, words of inspiration that move me, that might have moved you. I bounce between hope and despair, between being inspired by the goodness I see in people and in the world, and in thinking we are hopelessly doomed to destroying ourselves and our planet. Neither of those states is helpful nor even an accurate assessment of what I truly believe.
So here is one thing that to me is both true and helpful and connected to our 7th principle. Daniel Quinn suggests that the core of the religions of all pre-civilized societies, animism, can be summarized in this way: “The world is a sacred place, and humanity belongs in such a world.” This does not mean all tribal people have the same creed or practices or stories, only that they all believe that the world is a sacred place and we, you and I, belong in it. While simple, this idea is a radical departure from the world view that I, and I would venture, you, have learned living in the civilized world.
The world is a sacred place. What does that mean? It means the world, all of it, every part, every place, every creature, every aspect, is sacred. The world is not made of objects to be used; the world is not a market full of merchandise to be purchased, the world is not a series of challenges to be conquered. The world is alive with intrinsic worth; the world is made up of sacredness. The air is alive; water is magic—not only for what it does but for what it is. Gold is not more precious than dirt. This very earth is our heaven; there is no better place to go. We are not being tested, nor are we transcending our egos; we are not attaining nirvana. There is no other place to go after our life here is over. This life, on this earth, is sacred.
More radical is this; humanity belongs in such a world. We do not belong here as the overlords. The world was not created for us. We are not the stewards of this planet, managing life here as kindly slave owners. We belong in such a world in the way that birds and fish and dolphins and bunnies belong in such a world. It also means that there is nothing inherently wrong with us! It is not human nature to be destructive, or greedy, or stupid. We don’t need to go to war or to destroy the world. We are not predestined to create Armageddon. There is nothing in our DNA that makes us unable to belong to the rest of life here on this planet.
The only real hit is to our sense of entitlement, our deeply held belief that we are either the reason for the world’s creation or the peak of evolution. It seems so scientific, the idea that all life forms lead to US, despite being a bit grandiose. Is it not a bit more likely that evolution is rather a grand dance that has no particular end result in mind? Is it possible that we are merely a part of life rather than the point? Letting go of our need to be the most special of all life forms does not take away the reality that we are pretty amazing just as we are.
I think animism has it right. This I believe: the world is a sacred place, this world, is a sacred place. And that humanity, you and I, and all the others, we belong; we belong in such a place. We are neither gods nor devils! Just really lucky participants in this wonderful life here on beautiful Earth.
Thank you.
