“Man must feel the earth to know himself and recognize his values.... God made life simple. It is man who complicates it.” -Charles A. Lindbergh
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The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico has been in progress since April 20, a crisis that permeates every conversation here. It's the peak of beach vacation time in Alabama. Visitors to the gulf coast report in news interviews that, not only is the beach tainted with oily tar balls, but the petroleum smell is so strong that vacationers are retreating indoors It is hard to imagine the beach with noxious fumes overriding the hot, humid, salty breeze.
I haven't been to the beach, or as my grandson called it on his first visit as a toddler, "the BIG sandbox", since before my crash. I can't imagine going now and not being able to walk to the water's edge as the waves splash up over my feet. I am so glad to have experienced the gorgeous sugar white coastline before it became stained and littered with the oil covered bodies of wildlife victims.
This is what I consider a catastrophe. The impact of which will be felt for decades to come. I wonder when humans will hear the message and start taking responsibility for the way we are assaulting the earth? Will we ever learn to live more gently, more simply? The threat of a tropical storm, or worse, a hurricane, looms ominously near the gulf as the week ends and hurricane season begins.
Lindberg implies a connection between one's experience of the earth and personal values. He indicates that our connection with the earth is simple, but we are the one's who complicate it. I wonder how he arrived at this conclusion and if he would translate his viewpoint in the context of this human-made disaster?
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