I love my children.
I love my grandchildren.
And have deep concern
for the youth of the Earth.
Who and what do you love?
What we value
defines who we are.
Who we are is
shaped by what we love.
My doctor and I are talking about despair, depression, hopelessness and the upset of constant stress. I say, “I am appalled and increasingly shocked by how much Americans hate each other. By how quickly people reach for a gun and senselessly murder is committed.”
The doctor is a good man. He comments, “People hate each other in other counties too. But they do not so easily kill one another.”
We are both silence under the heaviness of this troubling thought.
I bring the conversation to a close, saying, “The thin line between reality and madness is being erased.”
You work for a paycheck.
But do you also
work for peace – for
eliminating nuclear stockpiles and
proliferating weapons of
mass destruction; to
combat climate change, to
end the massacres of
school children in their classrooms;
to stop the plastic
poisoning of Earth’s oceans and
mitigate against
infernos of climate fires?
What we love is
shaped by what we value.
And what we value
defines who we are.
What do you love – above
and beyond
your new truck, your
new car
your cell phone
flat screen tv and…
YOUR GUN?
Oh!
I nearly forgot:
Happy Birthday!
David Sparenberg is author of CONFRONTING the CRISIS: Essays & Meditations on Eco Spirituality in the Earth Spirit Series (Moon Books). An international essayist and eco-poet, David lives in Seattle, WA in the Pacific Northwest, USA.
