By Henning Jon Grini.
We know that humans are inflicting damage on the Earth, resulting in major climate problems. If the Earth could speak, wouldn’t it be interesting to hear her opinion? Here is what I imagine.
Dear humans living upon my great round body, would you please treat me a little better?
It seems you have forgotten who I am. In earlier times, many of your Indigenous peoples took good care of me. Today I struggle to breathe because you cut down my lungs and use my oceans as dumping grounds. I become ill and develop a fever because of this.
If you take better care of me, I will take better care of you. Therefore, I have a request for you humans. Will you stop smoking? Those big pipes of yours are not good for me, just as those small pipes are not good for you, since they make you sick and shorten your lives. I grow warmer because of it, and everything that lives upon me becomes ill from all the toxins that are released. Some of my species are actually disappearing forever. That is very sad.
Instead of consuming my fossil remains of animals and plants, I am glad that you have begun to use the warmth from the sky and the heat within me. It is good that you have also harnessed the howling wind and the trickling water. Although this is better for all of us, it has some drawbacks. Therefore, I wonder, have you researched enough into the immense power of magnetism? It provides unlimited access to energy and has no side effects.
Dear humans, I forgive you without hesitation for what you have done to me, because you did not know better before. You did not understand that this also affected yourselves. I become ill, and the fever I get forces me to compensate, resulting in more floods and fires.
In earlier times, you lived closer to me. Today many of you live in clusters so large and tall that many scarcely know what nature and silence are. Perhaps that is why you have forgotten who I am?
And why not visit me more often? You can bathe in my small waters and great oceans. You can glide across me when I am covered in white powder. You can breathe in the scent of my beautiful flowers and witness a bee collecting nectar. You can enjoy the view, meditate, and feel the peaceful stillness. I have much to offer, and I would love to show it to you.
Dear humans, do you not see the similarities between us? I am more alive than you think. It is no coincidence that I am called Mother Earth or Gaia. Your blood vessels are like my rivers. You breathe in and out; I have my seasons that come and go. What you breathe out, my trees live on. Even my trees, with their roots, resemble your lungs. We live and breathe together.
Am I not beautiful, with my rushing rivers, living corals, impressive landscapes, enchanted forests, and lovely sunsets? Is it not beautiful, the butterfly fluttering by, the nightingale singing so sweetly, and the whales swimming so majestically? Is this not worth caring for? If my beautiful nature does not touch your hearts, you have grown cold and insensitive. If my immense power does not humble you, you have lost your respect for me.
Dear humans, I want you to have a good life with me. I have simply grown fond of you. It tickles when your little feet move across the ground and you create life and activity upon me. I love to hear your laughter. I rejoice when you are happy, but I also feel your sorrow when tears fall to the ground. I would be bored without you.
I want you to use me, not abuse me. I want you to benefit from me, not exploit me. You have abused and exploited me, and everything that lives here, long enough now. It is time to wake up.
And to wake you up, I sometimes have to speak out. My storms, floods, and fires are some of my feedback. You get diseases and pandemics when you treat my animals poorly. And I wonder, do you really have to eat them?
I will continue with even stronger feedback until I am heard and you change. There is no way around it, but change is a good thing, because it is about growth.
Dear humans, I am the source of all life, and I have abundance, enough for everyone. Therefore, I cannot understand why you do not distribute my gifts more fairly? Then you would gain control over population growth, and your world would become so much more pleasant for you all. If some take too much, others get too little. I make no distinction between anything or anyone. Maybe it's your hearts that need to grow more? Maybe you should love others, and yourself more?
In my world, everything happens in cycles, and everything is reused. I did not even know what waste was before you came into the picture. Perhaps you should study me, and everything that lives with me, a little more closely?
I have existed far longer than you, who count lives in just a few years; I count them in many millions. You are far more dependent on me than I am on you. In fact, I am not dependent on you at all, yet life would be empty and lonely without you. Know that I see you as beautiful, intelligent beings with enormous potential. You have lived upon me for such a short time and are still so young and irresponsible.
We can create a wonderful future together where we both flourish, but then everyone must do their part. I know it is possible, for I have also seen all the good you do for others, and all the brilliant and beautiful things you are capable of creating. So yes, I have faith in you, wonderful humans! Do you have faith in me?