Rain

The rain is pelting down here in Boston today. Torrential rain. This is a new type of rain for New England. We are suddenly subject to downpours more typical of climates south of us. Flooding and emergent home repairs result.

Ignoring the deterioration of the atmosphere, due to fossil fuel usage by too many human beings in this enclosed ecosystem of Earth, this bubble of air, water and life in a dry, cold universe, is doing nothing to reverse this trend. The damage that is already done will plague the inhabitants of Earth of decades ahead, even if we begin drastic measures today to halt the environmental changes.

The apparent flaw in human evolution is the frontal lobe's ability to work against the best interests of the human organism. The destractibility and abstraction of the human brain diverts the focus of existence from the essential to the idealized, the imagined. So, the organ in the human body responsible for the advancement of human age and quality of life in the short term may undermine human prosperity in the long run.

This makes me appreciate the tidal nature of existence. There is balance in a closed system. One positive balanced by one negative. Yin and yang. Light and dark. Every gain brings its corresponding loss.

Rain

A pre-Spring rain storm has deluged my area this weekend. The power of wind and water is humbling.

When I encounter the unavoidable and uncontrollable effects of extreme weather, I try to use my powerlessness as a reminder of my true place on the planet and in The Universe. Rather than making it all about me, I try to understand that the "higher power" is simply the visible and invisible ecosystem within which I live, of which I am part. I am one relatively small creature in a massive ecosystem, relative to my size and individual, innate power.

Perhaps this is a key to why some members of the human species have taken a kick-the-dog attitude in their lives. Faced with their powerlessness in the face of their real place in Nature, they have retaliated against those elements in Nature which they can manipulate or destroy. They do this with a sense of impunity and entitlement, without regard to the ecological consequences for themselves, their fellow humans or the whole ecosystem itself.

This is not human ingenuity. This is a crime against humanity and our ecology.

The subtle and daily choices of the serious humanist in daily practice are sometimes exhausting. I often feel the temptation to say, "To hell with it!" And, sometimes I do simply go with the flow, when my energy runs out.

Each morning, however, brings an opportunity to start my practice anew, just as each moment is a decision, a cause, an effort. While water must seek its own level, we, as conscious beings, have the opportunity to actualize our own path, often against the gravity of human greed and indolence. It simply requires making that choice one moment at a time.