Polluted clouds, silver lining (An Earth Day meditation)

Something amazing is happening.

We are all in it together. We are all in the same boat.

It doesn't matter whether you register Democrat or Republican. Whether you are capitalist or communist.

It is as the Buddha said. We are all connected.

For years they have tried to stifle the truth. And yet it has a way of shining through - in scientific journals, at international conferences.

Smoke from our factories in China is turning the snowcaps gray.

Marlins caught today are only a third of the size they were in the 50's.

The rise in ocean temperature and acidity is causing algae to flourish, and choking our coral reefs.

The ancient Hebrews knew this. They called for a Sabbatical every 7 years, to let the land rest.

"Go forth and multiply" - we have done this. "Conquer the Earth's creatures" - we have done

 this.

But we forgot to tend the Garden.

The Native Americans knew this. They respected fellow creatures as equals, and used every part of the buffalo.

But we have ignored these teachings, and we have suffered for it.

The Big Three automakers are filing Chapter 11. Huge lots full of gas guzzlers, never to be sold.

Japanese cars, based on the Kyoto protocol, are selling like hotcakes all around the globe.

We are addicted to oil. If those prices rise again, it will send us spiraling into a Depression.

The good news is, the world is finally beginning to take these problems seriously.

Thanks to Al Gore and the IPCC, who won the 2007 Nobel Prize.

Good riddance to George W. Bush, who did his utmost to silence the scientific community.

It's a shame America is a follower, not a leader in this effort. Par for the course lately.

But our environment does not belong to any country, creed, or government. It is bigger than that, more real, and more important.

It doesn't even belong to our species.

It is as the Buddha said. We are all connected.

In this age of racial/religious/political diversity, humankind's greatest challenge is to realize that we are all in the same boat.

And it's an ark.

Climate change is bringing that awareness. Where philosophy has failed, reality is turning heads.

That's the silver lining on our polluted clouds this Earth Day.