Something I’ve wanted to write for many years, and this felt like the right time. Inspired by Sea Legacy and Paul Nicklen’s video Extinction Ends Here.
Dear Mankind,
We have come to a great era of history, my friends, and you are to be congratulated on your perseverance. Since the creation of the world—since time itself began—you have stood firm through every catastrophe. You have stood your ground against every adversary, whether it be flood, or famine, or war, or the darkest despair that fate could cast upon you. You have made this harsh world a home in spite of everything. Castles and kingdoms you have raised from dust, empires you have built from sweat and blood, and through the strifes that have followed your triumphs you have continued to flourish. Seven and a half billion people—and I have watched you grow since the very beginning of it all.
You are a tenacious species, I must say. Not once have you given up. Not once have you raised the white flag in surrender. Submission is not in your nature, no. You were born to climb the heights of impassable mountains. You were born to sail the farthest fathoms of the seas, to trek the untamed wildlands of forest, of stone, of plains and highlands, you were born to be explorers, and adventurers, and builders, and engineers, and storytellers.
You were born to touch the stars.
But I ask you, I implore you, before it is too late, to look around you.
Such curious creatures you are, and I commend you for it, but you are careless also. This world you live in, it is not immortal. The mountains cannot stand forever, the hills and the cliffs and the windswept bluffs, they cannot stand up to the strength of mankind. The rivers that cut through the land, the streams which run gently through the woods, the diamond lakes and the endless seas, they are not permanent. The trees, the aspens, the poplars, the baobabs, the forests and the rainforests, they are no match against your machines and your harvesters. And the animals, they have no protection against your weapons. The rhinoceros, the leopard, the sea turtles and whales, the bears of the earth and birds of the skies…what have they again bullets and guns? I remind you, friends, that there is nothing new under the sun. But that which is old? It is beautiful, and it may need your help in the years to come.
The indefatigability of the human race, it is astounding, but do not forget to recall your own immortality. Do not forget the Creator who put you here, as caretakers, as guardians over all that is good and beautiful. Nothing on this good earth lasts forever, not even you. Not all of your achievements have been glorious and honorable, in fact much of your history is dark with the blood of your own race. It is dark with the blood of the world.
Be careful with yourselves. It is easy to forget where you come from. It is easy to forget the world around you, so set are you on evolving, changing, developing, and progressing in whatever way you can. You are fragile beings, but the earth you live in is more so.
I ask for your care. I ask for your awareness.
I have taken care of you all these years, given you food, shelter, and water. The storms and the hurricanes, the fires and the earthquakes, and even the viruses and the sicknesses, they are not new, they are only part of what is natural. The deeper you dig, the more forests you cut down, the more oil that more you spill into the ocean—you will find nature prepared to retaliate in whatever way it can. You bring much down on your own head. Remember that.
You are not the only species on this earth.
I know you get afraid sometimes. You fear death, or isolation, and disease, but I have faith in your endurance. Look how far you have come. Time after time you have overcome difficulties, so do not give up just yet. Not now. There is still so much for you to do, so much for you to accomplish.
Do not give up hope. You may yet prove to be the light in the dark.
I end with this message; do not forget me in the present, the past, or the future. You need me, and I need you. This is not a relationship of domination, it is an agreement between nature and humanity, a treaty bound by providence. We need each other to survive. That is how we were created, and if you wish to continue on to the distant tracts of deep space, to the planets beyond your own solar system, then you must keep that in mind, and you must take it with you, no matter how far you go.
You, my lovely, beautiful, curious human beings, are capable of so much good.
Remember: you are not alone. You are never alone.
These are my words to you. Do not forget them.
And please, do not forget me.
With much affection,
Planet Earth
Photo by Planet Earth
Joined at the Authorship 