Here is a modified art and an essay by me and inspired by:
"The Song of a rolling earth" by, Walt Whitman (small excerpt)
"Say on, sayers! sing on, singers!
Delve! mould! pile the words of the earth!
Work on, age after age, nothing is to be lost,
It may have to wait long, but it will certainly come in use,
When the materials are all prepared and ready, the architects shall
appear."
My essay: (too long for most of us, but I will post it for the cosmos!)
Here we are, in the right place, at the right time.
Somewhere between eternity before us and eternity ever after, we find ourselves on planet earth spiraling through the cosmos, here in the midst of the natural and cultural world, anno 2021, safe and sound, and for the most part, with all our basic needs fulfilled, living comfortable in our lives.
We enjoy the time, some of us sharp and true and others rancid and deceitful, but all, with time to love, laugh and cry, and reap the fruits of our combined efforts, as we are where we are today, not of one person’s greatness or cleverness, but of many great individuals and collective contributions over a relatively short period of time.
Much too many of us are not so fortunate, mostly due to human fallibility, greed and ignorance, but in the greater perspective, of a never ending universe, with earth flying around our sun at a perfect speed and distance… at this precis point in time, and with such a diversity of living things like plants and animals and a perfect mix of air to breathe, our destiny is of our own doing.
How it will go, depends on what each of us and those who will follow after us, will do right now to take care of this bright blue earth planet shining faint in a galaxy of hope and despair. Will we contribute or be net sum detractors? Will we try and find a balance between want and need of the finite resources or even learn to replenish more than we take?
The science says we are living in the seventh great (or not so great) extinction period, with more species going extinct, in a specific historical short period of time than ever before in the first six extinction periods. The oceans are also losing their balance as we empty them of their sustainability, the worlds ice is melting, and the earth is warming due to our own mismanagement.
The human race may or may not survive to seed another world and maybe we have reached a phoenix in our complexity, as this earth we live on is ephemeral, though a few billion years is in human terms, is a very long time and not an immediate threat here and now.
Our telescopes show us things that are light years away and events that have already occurred eons in the past, with the night sky flickering with things that are and ghost light of things that are no more. Concepts that maybe seem irrelevant over morning coffee at the dining table, with true and immediate concerns for the day ahead, meeting all the demands of our individual family’s pressing needs.
Perspective and real enjoyment of the moment is a key to living and community and family to share this with.
The Danish word, “samfundssind,” meaning community spirit, juxtaposed to the greedier individualism is that which can assure us a path forward.
What do you think?
Loving regards, robert thompson
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