A New Day Always Follows the Sunset

Often in the hustle and bustle of the day, in order to rest a spell, relax and meditate, I would make my way to the stillness of

My Back Forty

I find it is necessary, when all seems dark and gloomy without, to turn within and seek some Inner Light. So here, in quiet contemplation, I am able to get in touch with the Life of Creation. I feel the closeness of all of Nature's Life-giving Forces. Here, I perceive that all things that are made or are being made, were conceived and fashioned by that All-Encompassing, Creative Force which is universally known as GOD.

I gaze out across the acres of green, which will soon become my hay crop. Not only are the Timothy grass and the Alfalfa plants alive and well, they are sharing the same field with a host of other plants, we call weeds. Because He had made them all, God called them good. They each grew to take a place in the great scheme of things.

I look again and see great expanses of fertile land made for the growing of food for people, as well as food for other life forms that require it. I see vast tracts of forests providing food and shelter (a home) for countless creatures, as well as material for our judicious use in industry. I see pure, sweet, flowing water providing one of the most valuable ingredients for the nourishment of all life. I see houses of many sizes and types, homes for our comfort and protection from the excesses of our natural and human-contrived environment. I see urban centres and vast cities, teeming with Industry and Commerce and supplying abodes for millions of people striving to make a living and so share in the use of some of Nature's blessings.

I am aware of the goodness of all Nature with her multitude of species; and for a time, I become one with them. Along with our neighbours, the folks next door, as well as those around the world, these elements of Nature are also our neighbours. Yes, we are all parts of the great ecology of Life. Unconsciously, perhaps, we are all helping each in our natural urge to maintain that necessary ecological balance. The sun, wind and rain are also in this natural phenomenon. I believe that it is very important that we all try to understand this relationship that we have to the rest of creation, as well as among ourselves -- this neighbourly relationship. This is vitally necessary not only for our mutual wellbeing, but for our continued survival as a life-form on our planet.

I rejoice and am glad. I give thanks for the Creator of all life and all living creatures. I give thanks for the beauty of the earth and the whole universe of which we are but a small part.

After some fifty years of-unprecedented growth -- not necessarily progress -- in all phases of human life on our once-beautiful planet, I return to my retreat, to my "Back Forty".

This time, I am not greeted by my spring frogs and peepers. The black squirrels and the chipmunks no longer scamper along the long-since departed rail-fences. The robins and the bluebirds have hushed their merry songs of welcome. The haystubble is gone and the grass-roots are withered, in the parched, depleted soil. The air is no longer fresh and invigorating. The sun shines weakly through a grey sky. At night, the stars seem to have lost their twinkle.

What has happened?

As I look again, out upon the once-green acres, I see my fellow human beings striving against each other, to not only get his or her share of the necessities of life, but each trying to get ahead of the other. This has become the way of the world. The name of the game, it seems, is not only security, but profit. Get as much as you can, even if you cannot use it, for as little as you can, and sell for as much as the market will bear. This is the Competitive System, the Free Enterprise System. I see the machines of the world, designed by our engineers and technicians, producing an abundance of everything, useful as well as useless. The useful gets distributed if the price is right, while the useless ends up in our ever-growing scrap piles and garbage dumps. To make sure that we do not overproduce, our hard produce has built-in planned obsolescence. This makes it necessary to buy a new and different model every few years, with the obsolete or faulty models adding to our scrap pile.

Millions of capable and willing individuals are seeking work to give them money to exchange for food and shelter. Crime and violence in this country seem to be increasing. Our inner cities are frequented by homeless people of all ages, all perpetually hungry and malnourished. In spite of all of our technology, energy and resources, we cannot seem to be able to solve the basic cause of these critical, social problems.

I see a multitude of high-rise buildings of concrete, steel and glass built with risk-capital, with the idea of making a profit from the apartment tenants, who, in turn, borrow to pay the ghost owner for the privilege of staying there.

I see other architectural giants built to house corporate offices for the owners, as well as provide space for offices for lesser corporations at a substantial profit.

I see a proliferation of motor vehicles congesting our city streets as well as our highways. These vehicles seem to be multiplying at an alarming rate and adding to the pollution of the air we breathe. They tell me that it is necessary for the auto manufacturers to keep making and selling these vehicles in order to keep our economy making profits to line the coffers of the well-placed entrepreneur managers of these companies.

On further observation, I perceive that the springs of our life-giving water are running dry. The sources are relentlessly being poisoned and polluted by industry everywhere. This is due to nearsighted greed and undue haste to make a "fast buck" at the expense and the degradation of the health of millions of people of all ages, races and sex.