We Took So Much for Granted

We took so much for granted. So much was just a given. The trees, the bees, the fish in the sea, the air, the ocean rhythms …the seasons…clean water…and all the animals: the lizards, squirrels, birds, raccoons, the grand majestic animals…even the insects. They were always here and will always be here just like us humans.

No, it’s not a given anymore – all that given is under question.

We thought we could keep consuming, getting more and more, taking over more and more, building more and more, destroying more and more.

Just like when you are young, you always think your parents and siblings will always be there…even when there are deaths nearby, still you can’t imagine being without your immediate family. We don’t realize till much later, the brevity of life and how things really do change; people get sick and die and then there is no going back. Gone forever.

But this is on a much more existential level; our very world existence and all that we have assumed was stable – didn’t even assume – just was – is not a given anymore. It’s inconceivable. Our puny human mind cannot hold this upheaval for very long.

Every generation has its challenges for sure and some have been huge, but this is on a whole new level.

What does it mean for each of us not to take any of this given, this life, for granted again? And what does it look like for each of us to wholly and with spirit respond?