Relationships: The space in which humanity resides

“Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky.”

Rainer Maria Rilke

How we relate to each other and to the wider world around us must change, we seem as individuals to be becoming more and more isolated not only from each other but from the world around us. In the developed world an increasing number of people live alone and the bonds binding the extended family are weakening. Children spend increasing amounts of their time, alone in their rooms glued to gaming machines whilst adults either watch the television or if they are out and about are increasingly isolated in their personal bubble courtesy of the ubiquitous MP3 player. Marriage rates have never been lower and divorce rates never higher. When we are not idling away time as described above we are spending more time than ever before working. If this is the gift of the technological age, I for one wish we could give it back.

It is hardly surprising that our ability and willingness to develop deep relationships with the natural world is sadly lacking when we seem to be continually diluting the relationships we have with each other. Who we are is defined by the quality and substance of the relationships we form in our lifetimes; we are not remembered for what we had but for the impact of our having existed. I believe that we are living in truly emotionally impoverished times and that this is a direct consequence of our over emphasis on material possessions. The consequences of this are being manifest in increasing levels of stress, unprecedented dependence on antidepressant drugs and growth in suicide rates.

Climate change and the other impacts of excessive population and consumer growth such as water deprivation, energy shortages, species extinction, ecosystem collapse and famine do not respect national borders, cultures or theological perspectives. Addressing these issues will require all of us to work to together as never before; we must begin to learn to meet and celebrate each other in both our sameness and difference. If we are unable to rise above our bigotry and tribal allegiances the competition for ever scarcer resources will lead to unthinkable levels of conflict and violence. The degree of collaboration, collective commitment and cooperation required to really make the necessary headway to avoid the worst, will call for the development of unshakeable international relationships.

As a species Man seems to have related to the Earth not as a partner but initially as a provider and now simply a source of raw materials. It is incredulous to consider that $billions are being spent on research into terraforming. The notion that the powers that be are seriously considering where to build another Earth when we have ruined this one is absolutely disgusting. In our development of technology we are attempting to circumvent the very process of creation and evolution. We seem to have ceased to want to evolve as a species and to be hell bent on shaping the world or worlds to fit us; this is not only futile but flies in the face of the very miraculous process that brought us into existence in the first place. We have been around but for the blink of an eye and will be gone even quicker if we do not wake up to the fact that we are part of a bigger ever changing process called Life. Mankind in it’s present form will become extinct one day and that is as it should be, the question is when and whether we actually have the time and potential to evolve into something else. I believe we should be focussing our efforts on developing ourselves into a species that is sensitive to and supportive of the Earth and that we should seek to find happiness and fulfilment in our relationships with each other and all the things around us rather than to continue to attempt to exert power and control.