Who Do We Think We Are?

“We shall not cease from exploration

         And the end of all our exploring

         Will be to arrive where we started

         And know the place for the first time.

         Through the unknown, remembered gate

         When the last of earth left to discover

         Is that which was the beginning –

         And all shall be well and

         All manner of things shall be well

         When the tongues of flame are in-folded

         Into the crowned knot of fire

         And the fire and the rose are one.

                  T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding V

 

         Five percent of all the world’s wildlife lives on the island of Madagascar. Eighty percent of that wildlife is unique to this island that was separated from Africa and India hundreds of millions of years ago. Many of these most beautiful, exotic, wonderful, colorful creatures -- mammals, insects, reptiles, and birds   -- may become extinct in the next ten or twenty years because of human encroachment of their precious and equally rare habitat.

We humans, uniquely self-referential, so sophisticated and self-important, feel justified in over-running and over-consuming, causing other species to become extinct; we do it repeatedly without a second thought. In reality, we have no more intelligence and ability to achieve great things than the graceful fish who find their way back to their  river spawning grounds after years at sea, or the tiny hummingbirds that winter thousands of miles away from their summer homes, then return again and again.

         As I search for the answer to why we, the human species, are here, I have come to a realization: we humans are a biological anomaly.        

We humans think that we were created by a God in his own image, destined to have dominion over all the earth. And look at the mess we have made of it!

          This forces a thinking person to realize that no omniscient God would be so thoughtless to put humans in charge of this earth, and observe them doing such a terrible job of caring for it. In my adventure to learn who I am and why I am here, I  am forced to realize that not only is there no God, but also humans are not any more intelligent than any other creature. What animal would mess up its own nest to the point of bringing on its own extinction? Perhaps that extinction would be a great relief to the remaining creatures on this tortured planet, who have still managed to survive our self-absorbed, drunken, brainless, trashing of our Earth.

         We are indeed a biological anomaly. We have evolved by growing a large, very sophisticated brain which allows us to do many mechanical tasks, but we have not evolved one whit from our most ancient beginnings in regard to morality, compassion and sharing.

All I can do in my advanced age is to try to not make a bigger mess than I already have. I pledge, in my final years, to do as little harm as possible.