Environment: War with our true nature

Almost two decades ago, when I used to travel with my friend, the late Mary Kayongo, to some villages in Mukono District, I would worry about the road conditions when it rained. It happened that we were stuck in the muddy roads leading to some communities living there. The same worry was when it was raining while travelling to Murchison Falls National Park, and the last stretch of the road leading to Masindi town that was not yet tarmacked turned into a pool of mud, almost impassable.

Meteorology inaccurate
At that time my dear Mary and most of the elderly people around could predict if it was going to rain or not, and I was always impressed about how accurate their predictions were. Many years have passed by and today most experts cannot predict the weather pattern anymore! Yes, we have indeed altered our environment, beyond repair.
2016 was declared one of the hottest years, beating all records. Watching news forecasts and witnessing the effects of global warming is a real proof that we are heading towards a catastrophe.
If we think deeply about this quote from Shoghi Effendi , the guardian of the Baha’i faith, maybe we can realise how we can salvage whatever is left to be salvaged:
“We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one is reformed everything will be improved. Man, is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself 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.”
He further states that:” We need a change of heart, a reframing of all our conceptions and a new orientation of our activities. The inward life of man as well as his outward environment have to be reshaped if human salvation is to be secured.”
But can we think as stated above if we choose to exclude spirituality from any discussion regarding our environment?
Global solutions
It is also obvious that this global problem requires global solutions, when nations and governments of the world devise plans and take steps to preserve the environmental balance. Solutions that, do not include greed and political gains.
However, it also depends on individuals and how they tread on this earth, it is all about the mutual respect between man and nature. If for a moment, we disrespect and abuse this earth because we are walking above it with our feet, we are forgetting that all the riches we pride ourselves with come from there, the same earth we walk upon.

Have hope for the future
Treating nature with respect is also a sign of good attributes and noble characteristics of humans, those qualities that excel beyond any material adornment we may possess.
Hopefully the future will be better than today, as mentioned in this quote from the Baha’i writings: “The Lord of all mankind hath fashioned this human realm to be a Garden of Eden, and earthly paradise. If, as it must, it findeth the way to harmony and peace, to love and mutual trust, it will become a true abode of bliss, a place of manifold blessings and delights.”

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