Buchenwald Forest
Photo – Nasenbar (Diskusson)

It is not actually possible, on this morning in March, when our television screens are filled with the suffering and death of people, including children, old people, ill and disabled people, as well as their dogs and cats – when we watch apartment buildings going up in flames, shattered by bombs and artillery fire – to ignore all this and write about the charming days of spring. War is not charming.

So, we will write instead about courage and kindness.

No one doubts the immense courage of the Ukrainian people – their self-sacrifice and their heroism. We can all see the women and children who endure days and nights of hardship – and we see the kindness of the people in neighboring countries who lend a hand, providing a bowl of hot soup and then opening their houses to strangers.

What is not always so visible is the courage of Ukrainian men – young and old – who return to devastated towns and cities to fight, to resist – not knowing if they will survive or if they will ever see their wives and their children again. They enter an abyss of danger.

We are all aware of the heartbreak of this situation. Some wars are worse and unkinder than others. However, human history, including recent history, is filled with wars – also with disasters – incomprehensible suffering for which no one can be blamed.

Heroes too

History is also filled with heroes – with those who sacrifice their own comfort, well-being, and their own lives – for others or for their country. We don’t know the names of most of those heroes – and all too often when wars happen in far-away places – or many centuries ago – or among people who may look different from us, or whose culture is not similar to ours – people with whom we feel no immediate connection – then we may not be open to feeling quite the same level of compassion.

We have trouble sometimes relating to other human beings who are different from ourselves – but how much more trouble do we have seeing, noticing, and being aware of those who are not human?

Animals can be heroes too. Not everyone accepts this concept, but a surprising number of people do.

Animals, plants, and the entire world of nature display both courage and kindness. These are not just human traits. What about the dog who, instead of running out of the burning house, runs further into the house to wake up his person and save the whole family?

What about the mother duck who, at risk to her own life, makes sure that each of her baby ducklings has gotten safely across the road?

What about the tall bristlecone pine tree who stands on the mountain side, in a swirling snowstorm, in bitter cold – until the spring. Is he or she not brave? Yet, one can hear the reactions of some who are thinking….. “that thought about a tree is just a step too far – and maybe a little silly.”

Countless nations and cultures

On the other hand, whole nations and cultures of people – many countless generations over eons past have seen the entire world of nature as living and alive. Most, if not all, of the earlier cultures of the earth have attributed personhood to mountains and rivers, to the oceans, to the animals — in countless stories, songs, and dances. Even modern legislative bodies – in India and New Zealand, for example, have recognized the sacred, living essence of rivers and mountains? Are they all wrong?

Perhaps not. Perhaps the earth herself and all her children are alive and conscious, as well as beautiful, graceful, and majestic. Perhaps we ourselves, as children of the modern world, need to regain at least some of this ancient perspective, this ancient wisdom, and perhaps when we do, we will be aware of a closer bond and kinship with all that lives – the animals, the plants, the rivers – all creatures and all human beings. Perhaps then we may be more aware of the kinship of all life – and more in touch with the great peace within – within our own souls, within the living worlds and beings of nature — within our fellow human beings. And perhaps then we can move on – in greater strength and kindness, and with greater awareness of the life and beauty of the universe – the universe who teaches us so much.

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At the core of Forest Voices of India is the vision of the earth and all her beings as an ancient web of life – including people, animals, and plants – who are all part of nature. May we get back in touch with these ancient concepts – to re-discover, to protect, and strengthen the earth, which is our world. May there be peace on earth.

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