Breath of Life
“They soon will come. Nothing can stop them now,” warned a sad, disheartened voice that flowed ominously upward and outward from the very soul of the Great Planet Earth.
There was a heaviness in the air and a dark, gloomy hush that filtered through the lush green forest. His broad outstretched arms pleaded with the heavens to stop the insanity that was about to happen. Yet, he knew there were but a few humans who could see him or even sense him. Most human souls could not hear the voice of his spirit that had existed within his massive body for nearly 200 years. They knew not, the sacred wisdom he sheltered in the bosom of his gnarled and knotted form.
“I am alive,” he bellowed. I have a name! It is Okanto! Can you not see the harm that will come to Mother Earth and her children if this senselessness continues? We, the lungs of the earth, the great giant oaks, maples, redwoods, birch trees and locusts, among others, provide the very breath that sustains your lives. Without us you cease to exist. For many years,” he continued, “some among us freely offered up our lives in the sun to make room for shelter, roads, and other necessary construction for mankind to develop and flourish. Once felled, the energy of other trees around them sent love and nourishment to their roots so they could continue to thrive beneath the ground. But a whole forest?”, he roared causing the wind to align with his fury, bending and twisting his branches and demonstrating just how much strength, power and resilience this mighty being possessed.
And yet, it was not enough to combat the technological supremacy that was about to be unleashed on this sacred land. Despondently, this spectacular, wise spirit of the massive oak, the father of this magnificent forest, knew he could not save his companions from being defiled, wounded, and violently forced from their natural temples that had been their homes for so many years.
At the sound of his immense and quaking voice, the birds that had been nestled in his beautiful brown and emerald green branches, took frenzied flight. They could hear him and they felt his intense sorrow and his rage. Immediately the entire forest responded as well…. deer, rabbits, chipmunks and every species of living creatures, both animal and plant, began to sing the timeless and heart wrenching song of bereavement that they knew, but hoped never to hear. From the etheric realm, all genre of elementals joined in, including fairies, gnomes, elves, unicorns and countless other magical beings that shared this great woodland. Death was looming large and frightening before them and everyone, all of the tiny etheric beings, the animals, the plants, but mostly the trees felt the colossal loss that the earth was about to endure due to this immoral and unconscionable act. They all sang that mournful, somber song well into the night until the heaviness and pain were unbearable and then . . . the forest fell into a deep, dark silence. Tears fell unceasingly, and the heart of this land ached uncontrollably, while the rest of the world was unaware of the tragedy that was only moments away.
Dawn arrived and the sun peaked hesitantly over the horizon wishing to turn back time so as to avoid what was to come . . . and yet they came. Dozens of men with bright orange jackets, donning helmets to protect them from possible injury. With heavy metal axes in hand, they descended upon this place of beauty and peace. Giant trucks and other unimaginable forms of destructive equipment rolled in, operated by unconscious humans who had no understanding of the pain and anguish they were about to inflict.
“They are just trees,” they would utter to themselves, unaware of their vital importance, or of the gentle tree spirits who watched and waited in horror for their own untimely demise. Those magical beings could foresee that the entire ecosystem would be damaged and out of balance as a result. Both plants and animals would suffer and perhaps perish as well. The humans did not comprehend the cost of deforestation both to nature and to mankind.
The desperate voices welling up from this enchanted place fell on ears unable to hear them. There had been, however, those sensitive human souls who fought for their tree spirit friends. They could hear their voices and feel the captivating spirits that dwelled within all of creation. They fought hard to save them, but they lost.
A sudden enormous crack echoed through the air, as the spirit of Okanto cried in unimaginable pain, his life force flowing out from his core. The ground trembled and shook as his broken and failing body crashed upon the earth, and all of the dwellers of this beautiful land wailed in misery and grief. When all was done there would be none left and the roots of all of the trees imbedded deep in the earth would die as well.
The sky then grew dark and threatening. Thunder rumbled and exploded all around, as the devastation continued. Great fiery bolts of lightning struck far and wide as Mother Nature demonstrated her outrage.
“There will be unsurmountable consequences to this global destruction,” she sternly warned.
Few heard, most did not, and Okanto and his “people” were no more.
This story, of course is fiction. However, there are those among us, including me, who do believe that all living things have consciousness. We are one with, not only each other, but with all of God’s creations that are gifted to us so that we can thrive and survive. To believe that we can unceremoniously and ravenously pillage from the earth, or carelessly destroy its delicate balance without dire consequences, is foolhardy.
The tale of Okanto, from a spiritual perspective, is to bring to awareness the possibility that within all living things is a consciousness and a wisdom that we can access, if we take the time to connect and listen. Trees stand as sentinels observing and witnessing the human condition from a vastly different perspective. They can teach us what it means to stand strong during even the most intense storms of our lives. Like the massive oak trees, we must grow deep roots into the earth to gather strength and fortitude. At the same time, we can reach high into the heavens to see our adversities from a higher point of view. In doing so, we can extract the lessons from our challenges, so that we may withstand the torrents of adversities we may face. The lanky, spindly bamboo tree may seem more fragile. Yet, it can teach us to bend and sway with the winds of change so that no amount of pressure or tension can break us.
Deforestation is just one of the ways we tend to disrespect our living breathing organism, called Earth, that supports us. The reasons for deforestation are many, some of which are to produce wood and timber, but also to make room for growing cattle, soy, and palm oil. We can harvest these resources if we do so in a mindful, responsible way. If not, the results can be catastrophic.
The forests, especially the amazon rainforests, not only provide enormous amounts of oxygen from the plants and trees, but they also absorb CO2. This can help combat global warming. Almost half of all known species on earth live in forests. Destroying the forests will most likely result in many of these species going extinct.
Forests also protect water resources and help prevent soil erosion. When we remove the forests, it causes harmful runoff of soil into rivers and eventually into the oceans. This detrimental runoff damages coral reefs and can kill them. These reefs also protect the coastline from ocean waves. Harming the coral reefs makes it more difficult for fish to survive there, and thus fishing in those areas becomes harder. As a result, people use fishing techniques which are destructive to both the coral reefs and the environment as well. The run-off also clouds the water keeping the sunlight from filtering deeper which affects the health and balance of our oceans and its ecosystem. Finally cutting down forests can cause forests to become deserts. What a tragedy that would be.
I’m sure there is much more to learn in order to take care of and protect our earthly home. I am not an expert on this topic, but I try to do my part by buying ecofriendly products and by recycling so that we can reuse the earth’s resources again and again, rather than continuing to cause harm in ways that may tragically lead to a world that is no longer inhabitable.[1]
On a lighter note, the beautiful earth angels called fairies will be exceedingly happy, if we all step up and protect our sacred earthly home! Hope that makes you smile.
[1] www.voanews.com/archive/deforestation
www.theworldcounts.com/planetearth