Читать книгу Like a Tree - Jean Shinoda Bolen - Страница 22

In 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts took photographs of Earth from outer space. For the very first time, it was possible to see the Earth as separate from us. We saw the beautiful sphere that is Earth: there were swirls of white clouds and the deep blue of oceans, and here and there, under the clouds, some brown and green that are partial glimpses of the continents. We saw Our Mother, the Earth, for the first time and she was beautiful. Seen against the vast void of space, she also appeared vulnerable.

Until we become adults psychologically, we see our personal mother (and judge her) in terms of how well she did or didn't meet our needs and wants. Only when we become mature can we see our mother as separate from our expectations of her, and at that point in our lives, she is aging and more fragile than before. If we are not narcissistic, we can see her as she is, love her, and realize that it is now up to us to take care of whatever she cannot do for herself. This is where humanity is in relationship to Mother Earth.

Trees and our Earth take such good care of us and all they ask in return is that we do the same for them. This beautiful home we all live on wants to give to us forever. But if we don't take good care of it and if we continue cutting down all the trees, eventually it will have nothing left to give us.

—JULIA BUTTERFLY HILL