For the last few months, I’ve been referencing an article
about 6 moral precepts from the field of bio-ethics. The article suggested we hold on to some ways of being together as we enter these times of environmental collapse.
The 6 suggested moral guidelines are:
- Work hard to grasp the immensity of the change
- Cultivate radical hope
- Have a line in the sand
- Appreciate the astonishing opportunity of life at this time
- Train your body and mind
- Act for the future generations of all species
I’d like to draw our attention to one of these every month.
This month, it’s the fourth precept of: Appreciate the astonishing opportunity of life at this time.
This maxim gives me a sense of responsibility or duty to simply appreciate. We can appreciate many things and, in this context, we are talking about appreciating how amazing nature is, even in (or especially) the face of loss and change.
As they say in the article: “appreciate that there is anything at all, and that we have witnessed it.”
The article also talks about those who have been ill, the dying, and how their illness reminds us to savour and appreciate what is in front of us. Adore the trees, the leaves, the sky, the ocean, the birds. They are dying. Our natural habitat is dying.
Romance Nature. Remind yourself of your own deep love of what is (and is no longer at every heartbeat). Feel its grandeur. Appreciate.
I took the picture above on a walk when I was in Vancouver recently visiting my friend over the holidays. I was fascinated by the trunk of the tree and in fact by the whole tree. It stopped me in my tracks as I would pass it each day. So I visited with it for a while. I hope it reveals some of its majesty to you as well.
“I do not think a day passes in my life in which I fail to look with fresh amazement at the miracle of nature.” … Pablo Casal