The song of humankind is only one voice within the harmonious hymn of the universe.

Published by Aquarius (Atlanta, GA), December 1999 

The cosmos is made up of an intricate web of relationships, a net of jewels. The song of humankind is only one voice within the harmonious hymn of the universe. All of creation is sacred: our sun with its light and warmth; our earth with its rivers that flow through the land like blood through our veins; the mountains that rise to touch the sky; the deer that live in the hollow; the tall trees as grand as any cathedral; humankind who toils and struts trying to make sense of it all. For our ancient forebears the Earth was mother and Goddess. Animals were revered as the equivalent of a "Christ." They did not assume ours was the only voice raised to praise God. They heard the birds singing hymns along with the eternal rhythm of dancing waves. Their religious rites and sacrament were practiced outdoors.

About six generations ago humankind switched to an urban-industrial society. Worship was transferred from sacred groves, springs and fields to churches, synagogues and cathedrals. Nature was desacralized and God moved indoors. God's will was said to be revealed more in books than in brooks and beasts. Salvation depended on the sacrament of churches rather than remaining in harmony with the seasons.

With the emergence of science and technology, the sense of sacred shifted from nature to humankind. Cities became our home and technology our cosmos. Lost is the ordinary dance of planting and gathering. Yet the Bible and other scripture remain rich in metaphors from the outdoors: still water, lilies of the field and lions lying down with the lamb.

Most of us leave every day to work in largely sedentary jobs inside buildings. Routines are dictated by impersonal corporations over which we have little control. Our horizons are shaped by machines, cement, asphalt, pollution and violence. The majority of us have traded the independent strenuous life of the land for wage-slaves. Purchasing our food in plastic wrappers, we have little time to think about the terrible and sacred human question about the creation and destruction of life.

Under what conditions is it moral, necessary and sacred to destroy a life? When is slaughtering animals, executing criminals, killing in warfare, aborting babies and controlling the population of our over populated planet justifiable?

Overpopulation is rapidly reducing the quality of life for the masses of humans and condemning thousands of other species to extinction. Why do we have neither compassion nor repentance for this killing ground that is the earth? It is from the animals and plants that we learn that we are not the center and sole reason for the existence of the universe.

Species chauvinism is wrong. The recognition of the sacredness of all creation brings with it moral responsibility. To harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator. We may believe in God, but the forces, the institutions, the myths that give shape to our daily lives today are largely secular - money, markets, machines and the mass media. Most people no longer believe that for most of us tomorrow will be a better day. Can our fascination with urbanization, technology, corporate growth, and worldwide economy lead to an increase in healthy contented people?

History is littered with the remains of great civilizations that chose to die rather than change their myth.

When most other species are extinct or exiled to live in zoos we will have finally established our dominion over the earth and destroyed our sacred, intimate connection with the web of life. What we will find is a profound loneliness. We will become homeless in what was once a cosmos. But, we still have time to make the choice: we can drown out the song of creation or sing in harmony.