We don’t hear much about the environmental effects of war. But then, we have never heard much about the global impact of our general, petroleum-based consumption. Up until recent years, there was only the occasional media-based reporting of scientific study, and fringe groups of generally mistrusted radicals. Today, the ‘environmental’ market trends have affected everything from recyclables to ‘organics’, light bulbs to shampoo. But this is clearly only the beginning of human thought around survival which is not primarily based on the here and now. 

Religion has taught us how to find personal salvation, how to find inner peace, how to confront our souls. Yet, many religionists do not associate the environment with their salvation, specifically. Many of us have not been taught about a spiritual core that binds all of the physical world together – taught in such a way that the spirit of religion itself could be apprehended adequately by ‘the flesh’. Thus we have an astonishingly rich society that has continued to move its way toward catastrophe and possible extinction. Using up resources that not only support our way of life, but also our very existence. The world’s natural resources are being sucked back faster and faster. This planet’s life is being extinguished. And a ‘globalization’ economy depends entirely upon ever-increasing profit by all who sit at the table. I’d say it’s mathematically impossible for the entire world to adopt the western model of democracy and capitalism (and conflict management?!)

We are only at the very beginnings of environmental consciousness, spirit in scientific matter, the cosmic and biological interdependence of all Earth’s creatures. If we were really significantly grasping the concepts, we would, under no circumstances, be governed by corporations, fundamentalists and the military priority. Why? Because the way that these bodies presently think and operate cannot, by design, regard all as equal and all as sacred. The way it is: those who consume, or who respond financially to the handful of decision-makers, are subsequently deemed valuable, while those who don’t, aren’t. The same goes for resources. Oil, an astonishing natural occurrence, in which organic matter from eons ago is resurrected and burned into energy, is immediately responsive to the human need. The polar icecaps are not. Meaning that a product-based dollar figure cannot be easily attached to them…until their melting creates a problem that can be address by a product or service. This is how ‘environmental consciousness’ will emerge, as long as our leaders remain ‘spiritually unconscious’ of the environment.

As we speak, war rages on in (many) parts of the world. A bloody war continues against the world itself. A brief example: a provincial government in western Canada is still pushing for off-shore oil drilling (in earthquake-prone waters), supporting aquaculture that is killing entire species of salmon, cutting down irreplaceable forests, selling off aspects of healthcare, public education and public hydro. Every part of the world can account for some action that reinforces the destruction of the planet, and North America is, by far, the worst. 

Today, I sat and drooled over a coffee table book of The Group of Seven. Aahhh. Actually brings tears to my eyes, the beauty of those artistic creations, the dazzling imagery of lovingly and longingly interpreted Canadian landscape. I remember that art can illumine the mind and the soul. And it continues to do so, uniquely, for those who strive to create it themselves. Did you know that my apartment walls are covered in my artwork – I thought to myself, ‘I can’t afford to buy a lot of art… but, I can make my OWN art!’ You can too. Please do.