I have written many times about my oldest granddaughter, Audrey, who is a senior student at SMU, majoring in Environmental Science. She is currently doing an internship in Maui, Hawaii, studying the migration of humpback whales. This morning I received the following email from her. I don't think she will mind my sharing it with you. Her passion is very obvious, and I feel she will continue to grow spiritually and make a very big difference in the world. Needless to say, I am very proud of her.
(iptimes)
"I have experienced an awakening during my time here in Hawaii. The past few days we have studied some very emotionally enraging topics. Like how the captivity industry fuels the heinous slaughter of 20,000 dolphins every year in Taiji, Japan; how the international laws are consistently being broken and (are going) unpunished regarding the moratorium on whaling; how anthropogenic activities have managed to have a devastating effect on every ecosystem on Earth; how protesters, who are peacefully practicing their First Amendment right, are targeted, punished, and sometimes physically hurt by people of our government; how our government has become a plutocracy, with 200 of the large corporations that own 80% of the world's profits making all of the decisions that impact each of us (by the way, none of their decisions so far have been in favor of the environment).
I have been so moved by the films we have seen, articles we have read, and speakers we have listened to here. One night, watching The Cove followed by a Hawaiian native speaker (a vegetarian) made me cry so much I had to use my sleeve as a tissue. I came home that night, sat on our lanai (Hawaiian for balcony) and pondered. I realized that I had to write something and get it all out on paper. So I did. It's not finished yet, but I made some dramatic realizations about myself and my concern for our current world. Today I am in the middle of reading an interview with Joanna Macy who has made it her mission in life to help transform people's despair into action. I realized that she has literally taken the words right out of my mouth - the same things I realized for myself that night on the lanai. Please take time to read this article -- it is worth it."
I hope this brief report from a young (21 years) woman of today's world gives each of us pause to think during this election year. I love the way the native Americans used to consider the welfare of the seven generations to follow them before taking any action that might negatively affect the environment. At the current rate of destruction, our Mother Earth may not be here in seven generations! Or if it is, it will not be a very pleasant place to inhabit -- if it is habitable at all.
Peace and love to all living things on our planet,
Marilyn
