When my children were small, they loved a story about a boy who found a hidden power within himself as he interacted in new ways with the gray cold planet where he lived. On this unhappy planet, people were unkind to each other, they wasted with abandon, everything was ugly, sad and unpleasant. This boy was very much troubled by what he experienced but had no ideas about how to make changes. One day he wandered far outside of the city where he lived and found himself in a meadow. There for the first time, he noticed plants, trees and animals. Although everything he saw was gray and sad, he looked at it newly with eyes of appreciation, delighting in his natural surroundings. He became so overcome with happiness, he began singing and dancing in the meadow. To his amazement, as he twirled around, the world began to take on colour, shape, life, freshness and joy. After some time, the boy brought a few others to his newly found colourful meadow, and eventually a group of them began the transformation of the planet through a process of harmonizing their relationship with it. The planet would turn gray again if any of the group treated others unkindly or if appreciation for the colorful world started to wane. These children continued their love and appreciation, until all the adults in the world changed their attitudes and the planet was transformed forever.
To me this story is a perfect metaphor for the Baha’i concept of our relationship with the natural world. It is about appreciation, hope, working in groups, and being connected with all things.
Shoghi Effendi wrote:
We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions.
(Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 17 February 1933, Compilation on Social and Economic Development, p. 4)
The history of economic progress however, has shown little awareness of this relationship between the heart, our actions and the interaction of the environment upon us. We have exploited the land, water, air, resources and the people around us. A world characterized by the grinding labour and misery of many in service of the exorbitant wealth of a few, has become an accepted norm. In the gradual creep of materialism on natural processes and transactions, our appreciation for the beautiful planet upon which we are privileged to live has waned. Acts of violence done to the earth are also reflected in acts of violence committed upon women, children, minorities and the weak and vulnerable – then upscaled to have an even more devastating effect on entire populations. So how do we start turning this around?
To start a thoughtful discussion, The Universal House of Justice Wrote:
There are spiritual principles, or what some call human values, by which solutions can be found for every social problem. Any well-intentioned group can in a general sense devise practical solutions to its problems, but good intentions and practical knowledge are usually not enough. The essential merit of spiritual principle is that it not only presents a perspective which harmonizes with that which is immanent in human nature, it also induces an attitude, a dynamic, a will, an aspiration, which facilitate the discovery and implementation of practical measures. Leaders of governments and all in authority would be well served in their efforts to solve problems if they would first seek to identify the principles involved and then be guided by them.
(Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace, 1985. p.13)
One such principle is that healing of any ill is dependent upon seeing the whole and on harmonizing divergent elements:
Regard ye the world as a man’s body, which is afflicted with divers ailments, and the recovery of which dependeth upon the harmonizing of all its component elements.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Súriy-i-Haykal 152 (to Napoleon III), in The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, pp. 79-80. Haifa, Bahá’í World Centre, 2002.)
We cannot heal environmental ills by looking only at the exterior world and interacting at transactional levels. Healing does not occur from simply stopping one destructive act or eliminating a particular symptom. It requires an understanding of the realities of things and a deep respect for each type of expression. In keeping with the body metaphor, each organ and member of the human body have a specific and diverse function, yet each is necessary to the whole. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote:
By nature is meant those inherent properties and necessary relations derived from the realities of things. And these realities of things, though in the utmost diversity, are yet intimately connected one with the other.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablet to Dr. Forel, in The Bahá’í Revelation, p. 223)
Baha’is believe that each detail of nature is the expression of God’s will and shows some aspect of inner realities that have never ending meanings and hidden mysteries. The act of contemplating this concept is like the boy in the story who became so enamoured with and appreciative of the world around him that he affected a transformation.
When… thou dost contemplate the innermost essence of all things, and the individuality of each, thou wilt behold the signs of thy Lord’s mercy in every created thing, and see the spreading rays of His Names and Attributes throughout all the realm of being…. Then wilt thou observe that the universe is a scroll that discloseth His hidden secrets, which are preserved in the well-guarded Tablet. And not an atom of all the atoms in existence, not a creature from amongst the creatures but speaketh His praise and telleth of His attributes and names, revealeth the glory of His might and guideth to His oneness and His mercy….
And whensoever thou dost gaze upon creation all entire, and dost observe the very atoms thereof, thou wilt note that the rays of the Sun of Truth are shed upon all things and shining within them, and telling of that Day-Star’s splendours, Its mysteries, and the spreading of Its lights. Look thou upon the trees, upon the blossoms and fruits, even upon the stones. Here too wilt thou behold the Sun’s rays shed upon them, clearly visible within them, and manifested by them.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 41-42)
When we regularly spend time in nature, and find new ways to find and interact with natural surroundings in urban settings, our sense of wonder and appreciation for the natural world around us increases. How then can it be possible to abuse this beauty and this source of sustenance which is to us, life itself?
‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes:
The elements and lower organisms are synchronized in the great plan of life. Shall man, infinitely above them in degree, be antagonistic and a destroyer of that perfection?
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, talk at Leland Stanford Junior University, Palo Alto, California, 8 October 1912. Promulgation of Universal Peace. Wilmette, Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1982. p. 350)
If every family, all teachers, every employer and all governments had such a deep respect for the natural world and stood in humility and awe of the greatness and majesty of creation, entire societies would see that we are an integral part of the natural ecosystem and cannot remove ourselves from our role as stewards of the earth.
One such example is the practice of family gardening by Edmonton Baha’is Didier Hutchison and Mattéa Bujold and their three children. Along with their family garden they have a small family bedding plant business in which all family members are engaged, no matter how young! On the topic of respecting nature, they said, “We were talking about the difference between the gardener (or person) who believes that they should control nature (or others) to be successful, and the gardener who sees themselves as a participant in nature (or the world) and is eager to fulfill their responsibilities, nature is so much more holistic. We would do better to align our lives closer with nature’s ways.”
Baha’u’llah wrote that our respect towards the earth and to others must be so deep that the earth itself would attest to our humility:
They should conduct themselves in such manner that the earth upon which they tread may never be allowed to address to them such words as these: “I am to be preferred above you. For witness, how patient I am in bearing the burden which the husbandman layeth upon me. I am the instrument that continually imparteth unto all beings the blessings with which He Who is the Source of all grace hath entrusted me. Notwithstanding the honor conferred upon me, and the unnumbered evidences of my wealth—a wealth that supplieth the needs of all creation—behold the measure of my humility, witness with what absolute submissiveness I allow myself to be trodden beneath the feet of men.…”
(Baha’u’llah: Gleanings, pages 7-8)
We are intimately interconnected with everything in creation. The realization of this connection will be the foundation for reharmonizing our relationships with all things. It is a reconnection with essential Indigenous understandings that are in perfect harmony with Baha’i teachings, that until now have been submerged under the doctrine of consumerism and domination. See how different the world looks from this perspective of relationality and connection!
Forests are trees holding hands underground.1
Jeffrey Campbell, head of the Forest Farm Facility of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. (FAO)
A rights-based approach to landscape development means restoring our understanding of these sacred responsibilities to the environment.2
Janene Yazzie, member of Native American Diné tribe and IPMG focal person
Regarding our relationships between both the natural world and each other, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:
Unless ye must,
Bruise not the serpent in the dust,
How much less wound a man,
And if ye can,
No ant should ye alarm,
Much less a brother harm.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p 256)
Essential to reharmonizing our relationship with the natural world, is hope. With hope we can move forward with appreciation and gratitude. With hope we can see opportunities. With hope we can see the legacy of the creative human spirit and the work of collective human effort to address social ills throughout history. With hope we can believe in the bounties of God and a brighter future towards which we must head. With hope we have a vision of a bright future.
We should change the narrative from one of fear and despair. Despite the bad (climate) news, people are still very optimistic. Optimism in this case is essential, because hope beats fear every time.3
Hilary Tam, strategy director of global change agency Futerra
Edmonton Baha’i Katia Tonkin stated, “As a result of the pandemic, we have become more stressed worrying about our health and of our loved ones in addition to economic concerns. But nature has been very healing. Going for walks the fresh air, the trees, the birdsong and the earth smell is wonderful. Biking both around Edmonton and walks and biking around Canmore has been even better. But the best has been going to the mountains to ski. The fresh air and the views are so spiritual they heal my body and soul.”
Remember the boy and the gray planet. And remember the Indigenous greeting, “All my relations” to signify our interconnectedness with all things as relational.
The bright day is coming. The nucleus of the new race is forming. The harbinger of the new ideals of international justice is appearing. The trees of hope will become verdant; the copper of scorn and derision will be transmuted into the gold of honour and praise; the arid desert of ignorance will be transformed into the luxuriant garden of knowledge, the threatening clouds shall be dispelled and the stars of faith and charity will again twinkle in the clear heaven of human consciousness.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, v 5, p. 141