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July 23, 2006
Nature's Balance & Ours
She comes with a treacherous speed down the hill as she gives fast chase to a rather large cafe; the mother desperately trying to protect her baby.
I watch this footage on National Geographic, with my mouth slightly open in awe and apprehension in the same moment. The Grizzly mother had the Buffalo cafe in her mouth, trotting up the hill to her cubs. The narrator is speaking of the entire scene as it continues, reminding us that this was an event that has only recently come back to the park... Yellowstone National Park. The title of this show was “Thunder Beasts”.
Earlier, there was footage of a pack of Wolves following the large herd of these American Bison. There was a thick snow on the ground, as the narrator told of how the Wolves have the advantage in these conditions. They hunt from down wind, moving in circles and using all their cunning skills, to hopefully bring the food back to the pack.
Again, the viewer is reminded that this scene was not part of the park for more than a century, until these animals were reintroduced back into their natural habitat in recent years. They quickly fell back into their roles with each other and all their necessary, instinctive methods came to the surface.
I thought about this... so many years since the Buffalo and Wolf have interacted in such a way. This was Nature’s check and balance for these creatures, and so many others depended on just how these two existed... or not.
These animals rapidly took on what was to be done, as if each of them were given a memo... OK, this is your role... you chase this guy who weighs a ton, and he runs and protects his young, often kicking you.
Even in it’s brutality, it really does makes sense.
The Wolf and the Buffalo had the ability to restore this inner knowing, living it to survive. Each species manages to maintain a reasonable group size, not exceeding what can be sustained... it works with the purist balancing system Nature has to offer.
My thoughts now come to us. How do we Humans interact... since we have voluntarily or not, misplaced ourselves? Aren’t we supposed to be living our role in nature, also, maintaining a balance? What is that role, and what do we do to restore it?
We carry on in our big cities with our fast, gas eating cars and our costly, wasteful lifestyle, barely looking up to see what birds may be living in the occasional tree left standing. The reprocushions are trememdous, as global warming manifests with frightening speed.
Oh, I am part of this, too. This is not a mud slinging contest, but more a stepping back and looking at how we might reintroduce ourselves back into a balance... back into Nature. I am not talking about all of us moving into the woods and building log cabins. There are far too many of us, and far too few woods.
If we just recycled more, took steps to clean up our act, and do it with real conviction, this would be a start. Every time I see another commercial about some throw-away product... “It’s so convenient, just use it, and then, throw it away!” Yeah, but where does it go, and for how long, if ever, does it take to break down?
What have we lost in our misplaced world that we have created? Perhaps, if we look at the recent past, we will see a people who lived in harmony with all life around them. Those who understood this perfect balance, and knew their very survival depended on it. These, being the Native Americans, who were also, like the Buffalo and the Wolf, nearly driven to extinction in this country’s recent history.
If we fail to see the imbalance that we as human beings have created, Nature will simply take her coarse, without much effort, and more than likely, without us.
We think ourselves so sophisticated that we recently realized we needed to reintroduce species back into our national parks for the balance to be restored, and yet, we still don’t see ourselves connected to this picture. It is as if we are outside of the image... outside of life itself. How can that be possible?
I often feel like I need to pinch myself, so that I may wake up, because it feels like I am in some kind of science fiction movie. There are deep thinkers who often have referred to this existence of ours as ‘The Dream’. This might explain how we can so easily remove ourselves and forget what should be known. If we search our hearts, we will discover it there.
We need to reconnect; reintroduce ourselves back into the picture... back into Nature. Just like those ancient animals we observe, with the instinctive ‘knowing’ to create the balance and live in Nature’s harmony.
I believe there is hope for us, but we must open our eyes and see where we have been, where we are now, and where we are going. If we ‘know’ we must live here on this precious Earth, then, we will need to find within ourselves the ‘knowing’, in order to survive... to restore the balance around us and within ourselves.
I pray this truth will awaken us, and bring the love and harmony so desperately needed.
Posted by kay at July 23, 2006 06:47 PM