Ilchi Lee says about earth that by most accounts, the Earth is five billion years old and the oldest ancestors of human beings first appeared on Earth about three million years ago. It has only been 40,000 years since humans began using tools, indicating what was to come. In the 200 years since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, no corner of Earth, however remote, remains safe from the greedy touch of human hands. Always expanding, always profiting, and always hoarding and destroying everything in our path, until we ourselves have come to recognize the cancerous nature of our so called civilized activities. There are currently six billion human beings on Earth. That number is expected to rise to ten billion by 2050. Twelve percent of today’s population, 1.2 billion people, are barely surviving on less than one dollar a day. How many will have to get by on one dollar a day 50 years from now? The United Nation’s environmental report states that over ninety percent of the world’s population will suffer from a water shortage in 25 years. Over four million children are already dying every year from unavailability of water. We now find ourselves living on an Earth from which we are afraid to eat, drink, and breathe. The world’s foremost experts tell us that, in spite of degrees of differences, no country in the world is engaged in economic policies that will allow ‘sustainable’ industrial activities. Just as we realize the importance of health after a bout with a serious disease, we are only now realizing the preciousness of the Earth and the environment, as the signs of distress become more evident and urgent.
We can choose our religion. We can choose our citizenship. We can even choose our gender nowadays. However, we cannot choose the planet we live on. We cannot choose, or not choose, the Earth. We can live without religion, without countries, and even without supermarkets. We cannot live without the Earth. Earth is the Mother of all life, as we know it, UFO proponents notwithstanding. Her gifts and love are plentiful and unconditional, but, unless we change course, neither will last much longer. It is only a matter of common sense and reasonable responsibility for children to care for an ailing parent. What will we choose to do, now that we know that our actions are harming our mother? And who can give us the guidance to choose wisely? As they say, Mom always knows best…
