Discuss: Saving Seals

Such a beautiful and moving account on so many different levels. It never ceases to amaze me how complicated our existence as a species has become and yet how quiet time, in nature, alone or with others, always brings me right back around to what is important - the sheer bliss of breathing, feeling, living - and the fact that I feel so blessed to bear witness to all the complexities, triumphs and tragedies of this planet and this life.

It is rare to find a writer who can explore with grace the complex connectedness of all species.  It is such a wide topic, difficult to speak about, yet so important at this stage in our evolution.

Brenda Peterson’s exploration notes that connectedness is a good thing even when it is not particularly comfortable and/or with individuals or species we do not understand.

Dear Friends,

It we are going to save the seals, there will come a time, I suppose, when the people who care about biodiversity are going to speak out loudly and clearly about what it is that is actually threatening these animals.

My greatest fear is of the silence that is continuing to engulf us.  Too many people are refusing to participate in discussions of the real issues of our time. 

Perhaps I am mistaken is saying that no candidate for US President has so much as mentioned the human population growth issue, let alone discussed it openly.  Leaders in the US are not alone. Economists and politicians, their super-rich benefactors and the talking heads in the mass media willfully ignore what could present a huge problem for our children.

Something is simply not right when a single generation of recognizably selfish elders recklessly dissipates Earth’s limited resources, threatens biodiversity and the integrity of the Earth’s body, and remains adamantly silent as they go along their voracious way. The thoughtless, conspicuous consumption of resources by a small ( but rapidly growing ) minority of people within the family of humanity is something of a farce, except this ‘farce’ is devoid of humor because on this very day, when millions of people are becoming morbidly obese, billions of other people are undernourished, hungry or starving. 

My not-so-great generation of elders can do more and better than teach its children how we go about the rapacious process of eating themselves out of house and home.  Of this one thing, I speak with genuine confidence.

Sincerely,

Steve

Steve Salmony
AWAREness Campaign on The Human Population, established 2001

I am with you.

Dear ARIONNS,

Thanks.  We are going to make a difference that makes a difference. 

Sincerely,

Steve

I love Brenda Peterson’s quiet and beautiful exploration of this conversation—she describes her own discomfort and struggle to understand another, so well.

Surely readers must know there are several different ways Christians look at scriptures about “the parousia” or “end times?” I wish I could speak to this topic thoroughly, with links to other biblical interpretations. I can’t. I pick up this concern simply because no other Christian has yet voiced it, not because I am the best person to offer a response to “the Rapture” referenced in this story.

To Brenda Peterson, thank you, thank you for writing out this beautiful vignette, a clash of visions of the future. If all differences could be voiced with such kindness and warmth, how much better we’d be.

The wonderful wood engravings seem to pare existence down to the essence that matters, and in doing so, they complement a beautiful story about meeting in places that at first seem so alien to the way we live and think—but then,with patience and kindness,life surprises us with our shared common goodness: The Rapture—rapture ... somewhere beyond the divide.

Any person recognizing the spiritual value of Seals must be a good person.  In my observations at Homer Alaska I find it very possible that Seals are the archetype foundation for the spiritual idea of a gentle loving side of Buhda: what fine fury ambassadors to inspire respectful contemplation of such a wonderful earth, and Brenda Peterson is wise to capture their power for her new work. 

Thank you Brenda for your time and efforts being a volunteer Seal Sitter, nice!  And thank you for such fine writing.

I too am always watchful for those suddenly “empty” cars, I’m looking for something like the Aircar to trade up to.