Our Mark on the Earth | Teen Ink

Our Mark on the Earth

August 1, 2010
By Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran


The gift of nature is perfect. In nature, we can see a beautiful reflection of something divine. The Earth harbors daily miracles: the celestial scenes of the sky, the endless oceans of the underwater world, the diverse and wonderful myriads of life, and the landscapes that are utterly breathtaking. Having been so perfect, what men have done to the world is so much more of a terrible crime. Mankind, gifted thought it is, has marred the once untarnished face and soul of our planet.

Our nature doesn’t allow us to blend in with the complex order and disorder of the natural world. There is nothing wrong with this; it is who we are as humans. We like to stay at a distance from nature. But instead of following this desire to be apart from the land, we sought to dominate it. And I’m afraid that the cost of this is that the Earth is slowly dying at our hands.

People have let their desire for comfort and greed to overrun their ancient respect for the world around them. Men have the arrogance to claim the world as their own, not realizing we are simply children of it. We have no right to divide up the land for ourselves. We have no right to poison the air and water just so we can have petty material things. We have no right to ‘tame’ the wilderness. We can’t cut down entire forests that have much more right to stand than our buildings do.

Mistreating our planet like this has caused us to lose much reverence for natural beauty. We don’t spot the Earth for what it is: a God-given miracle. While only some of us are guilty of tearing down the land, the rest are guilty of not caring and averting our eyes from the destruction. We pretend it’s not happening.

Mankind is indescribably wonderful, but it’s not more important than nature. We need to learn how to live in harmony with it instead of trying to rise above it. The first step is to truly appreciate nature and all of its beauty. This way, when you stand before a landscape, you won’t want to tear it down to build a mall. When you find a rare species of animals, you won’t kill them for your collection. When you look at the sky, you won’t treat it like empty space to be filled with pollution. When you are knee-deep in water, you won’t want to do offshore drilling. The life, health, and last hope of the Earth sit on decisions like this.

Do what’s best for the world; it’s much more important than you think it is. It’ll take a while, but we can undo the damage that we have done. Then the Lorax and all of his friends may come back. ;).

Best of luck to our great home.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 14 comments.


on Aug. 9 2011 at 11:30 am
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran

That's great. Spread the word, man! A thousand thanks.

Yeah? Mine too.


on Aug. 8 2011 at 9:16 pm
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

I shared this on gmail as well to try and get it out there.  I really liked the reference to the Lorax.  It was always my favorite story by Dr. Suess. :D

on Jul. 23 2011 at 11:04 am
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran

Many thanks, that's very encouraging.

I must try to have hope!


Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Jul. 23 2011 at 12:45 am
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond

Very beautiful picture. :)

Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Jul. 23 2011 at 12:44 am
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond

There is still hope. More and more people are becoming aware of this. There are lots of laws protecting Mother Earth. Our Earth is better now than it was 25 years ago.

Have hope, ThesilentRaven!


on Sep. 20 2010 at 6:14 pm
IamtheshyStargirl PLATINUM, Lothlorien, Utah
44 articles 16 photos 2206 comments

Favorite Quote:
Boredom instigates extreme creativity.
~Amoniel

"Bowing gratefully to all of my subjects, 'thank you. Thank you. The pleasure is mine." Nah, I'm just kidding. We're all kings together.'"
~Thesilentraven

You're welcome :) I'm glad it gave you joy.

on Sep. 20 2010 at 5:26 pm
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran

YAY! I'm a little more part of the twenty first century! I have no portable technology. My only online account is Teen Ink; my only email is for school. Thank you for doing so; that's very kind of you.

on Sep. 20 2010 at 4:17 pm
IamtheshyStargirl PLATINUM, Lothlorien, Utah
44 articles 16 photos 2206 comments

Favorite Quote:
Boredom instigates extreme creativity.
~Amoniel

"Bowing gratefully to all of my subjects, 'thank you. Thank you. The pleasure is mine." Nah, I'm just kidding. We're all kings together.'"
~Thesilentraven

I shared this on my Facebook, thought you might like to know :)

on Sep. 13 2010 at 7:15 pm
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran

I'm delighted to read your comment, Ms. Londoner. Yes, Mother Nature is sorely mistreated, and I'm glad that you're sympathetic for her cause. Long live the Earth!

on Sep. 13 2010 at 6:51 pm
LondonEye DIAMOND, Randolph, New Jersey
89 articles 125 photos 71 comments

I'm glad that somebody wrote about this. I feel such sympathy for poor old Mother Nature.  The way we've abused and exploited her is a true crime. 

 

I, too, am a vegetarian and a "violently enthusiastic advocate for nonviolence" as you put it in your little About Me box. I really enjoy your work!


on Sep. 6 2010 at 6:15 pm
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran

True, we cannot kill the Earth, but we can ruin the life that exists upon it. We aren't fighting a war with it, we are just inadvertently harming it. Thanks for commenting!

on Sep. 6 2010 at 5:53 pm
Randhill BRONZE, Hanoi, Other
2 articles 0 photos 7 comments

there's oine thing that's wrong that I want to point out :P

We're fighting a desperate war with Earth9which Earth dpesn't even intend to fight. Self defense I may suggest) and the thing is, we're going to lost! There's no way that we can destroy and "kill" a chunck on massive iron ball :P

Anyways, great writing and good job!

Jesse


on Aug. 27 2010 at 6:28 pm
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran

Thank you very much for commenting and for your heartfelt compliment. Yes, I'm glad that it seems that we are of one mind. Long live... the Earth!