From the Mouths of Mutts

Wisdom from a comic strip is not something one usually expects, but today, muttscomics.comwater_life featured what it called a Native American Proverb. It reads: "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children."  As we abuse and squander the Earth's resources, that was probably never more meaningful. Children of the Earth, beware! Look around you at the beauty, large and small that should be yours to enjoy and pass forward.

How many of our current politicians indicate that we are borrowing from our children in any meaningful way? Oh yes, they grind their teeth and wail that we are burdoning our children and grandchildren with debt. Then they go on to extole the virtues of any corporate or business entity that is exploiting the Earth for rare resources or polluting our small supply of drinkable water. What is glaringly absent is any personal responsibility for what is absolutely true. We are overspending, particularly on foreign wars and for trying to make sick people well, but why are they getting sick? We are spoiling our habitat with misuse and overpopulation, and like any group of animals, when that finite point is reached, a habitat will not support all equally.

The one advantage that humans have demonstrated on rare occasions is that we have the ability to visualize the future and the impact we are having on our surroundings. What is missing right now is the acceptance that all other humans should have equal rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

If at no other time, surely Easter is the time to consider our neighbors as ourselves, and to view the world as if we all deserved to be here. That is a big stretch for some people, but a stretch well worth making. Everyone gains when we plan, we think, and we share.