Symbiotic Relationships. Survival of the Fittest.
These opposing viewpoints have been a topic of rumination in my mind lately.
Though a mere fictitious rendition of a fantastical story, the movie, The Lorax, based on the book by Dr. Seuss, shows an example of these two very real ideologies.
To start off, we see the beautiful land full of Truffula Trees and all its inhabitants. Barbaloots, Swomee swans, and humming fish all live in harmony among the Truffula Trees which provide food & shelter for them all, as well as growing symbiotically in relationship to bushes and grasses and flowers. When supernaturally summoned by the chopping of the first Truffula Tree, the Lorax, benevolent guardian of the trees, descends to watch over all of the creatures who dwell in the forest. Here we have everyone living in harmony with nature, and being provided for by Nature. An example of living symbiotically.
Next we have the Once-ler, disregarding the Lorax's plea (to chop down no more trees). He is "biggering and biggering" his factory, his business, his money, "which all people need". He says,
"There's a principle in nature
That almost every creature knows
Called 'Survival of The Fittest'
And, check it, this is how it goes:
The animal that wins has got to
Scratch and bite and claw and fight and punch
And the animal that doesn't winds up someone else's lunch"
But the poor Once-ler doesn't realize that all his fighting and biting and scratching hurts not only the Lorax and his friends, but himself as well. The last Truffula tree is cut down, all the animals move away, and the land is polluted. There are no more Thneeds to sell. But in the end, the very last Truffula tree is found and planted, and eventually the forest begins to grow back and the Swomee Swans, Barbaloots, and Humming Fish, and even the Lorax returns. Though it is merely a fictitious story, does it not truly depict reality?
Michael showed two thought-provoking diagrams in his talk that made an impression on me. The first was the common mainstream picture of the solar wind coming off of the sun and blasting the earth, who tries to defend herself with her magnetosphere. The second was a diagram that he drew himself, where electro-magnetic fields are coming off of the sun and spiral around the earth, who sends them back to the sun. I have to say, I have always felt a little uneasy about the sinister picture mainstream science has been painting of our life-giving sun, and when I saw Michael Clarage's picture it made so much more sense to me! Wouldn't it be more reasonable if the heavenly bodies were interconnected, to make a constant exchange, and if one body were altered, wouldn't it affect the other bodies in relationship with it? It does seem to be that everything that exists is connected in that way.
We've been persuaded to believe that the act of living is a struggle, that we must be always contending with nature in order to survive. That nature is, in fact, against us, trying to kill us. That the strong endure while the weak fail. That we live in a random universe. That we serve no purpose. That everything is meaningless as far as humanity is concerned. That all our emotions, everything we think and believe in, the beauty of a sunset, all our fear, hope, love, awe & wonder is nothing but chemicals reacting in our brains. What a bleak existence it would be if this were true!
What if everything really is connected, part of an intergalactic relationship?
Not only the common sense and evidence of this idea persuade me, but also the voices of creation that tell me this is true. Falling in love. A child being born. A near death experience. The fact that I could wake before dawn with a heavy heart, go outside and hear the birds praising the Creator, and look up in the sky to see His signs, which tell me not to worry and that all will be well. Truly, there is purpose and we are all connected. We need not fight to survive because Nature takes care of her own.~Beth
