Brothers and sisters

I'm beginning to see how establishing a relationship with our environment is the key to bring us humans into a closer communion with nature. It is not in our interest to care for the environment if we treat the environment as things to be used and exploited rather than respected. The following is an abstract from one of my readings in environmental law. It is part of a speech given by red indian chief, Chief Seattle, when the white men tried to purchase the land of the Red Indians.

All Sacred

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people
Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which course through the trees carries the memories of the red man.
The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go out to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man.
We are part of the earth and it is part of us.
The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers.
The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony and man - all belong to the same family

...

St Francis of Assisi also used the terms brother sun and sister moon, and because of his relationship with nature he was able to cherish and treasure creation all around him. Indeed, it seems hard for us to do so in our urban environment today! We live in tall HDBs, travel in cars/ buses/ MRTs, work in air-conditioned rooms and face a computer screen all day! The nature we are exposed to s perhaps the nature documentaries we watch on TV or youtube!



How can we establish a relationship with nature if we seldom have contact with it? It is sort of a long-distance relationship then... difficult... We should take advantage of the man-made natural surroundings even if we rarely come in contact with the forests and rivers! Our town parks, our shady trees, our bougainvillas on the overhead bridge and flame of forests flowers and all small wonders of nature we can appreciate. One of my favourites is the sky. Go to an open area and just gaze up at the sky and appreciate the clouds and their ever-changing ways. Singapore has beautiful clouds due to our tropical and humid climate! Don't take them for granted!

Lord,

Help us to see in your creation, the wonders of your creativity! May you also use them to remind us of the wonder of our being.

Amen.