Photo courtesy of Mario Wallner / Pexels

If you don’t understand it, don’t know what it is, or consider it a threat, just kill it. Superior strength does not require compassion or understanding. Just get it out of your way.

How many systems in nature have been thrown askew with this thinking? How many people and cultures killed? Is it an innate greed, an unjustified fear, an anger, an entitlement? Does “dominion over all” permit actions that defile a natural balance? Can a respect for the natural balance and our minuscule existence in the universe coexist with this ubiquitous mindset? How is this mindset so ingrained in Western culture?

It is interesting to follow a thinking process. The thinking for this commentary began on Easter Sunday. I was listening to an online sunrise service held at Pretty Place in Cleveland, South Carolina, near the North Carolina line perched atop Stone Mountain and surrounded by other mountains of the Appalachians. There is a beautiful view from the chapel, which faces east, so the changing sky of dawn’s first light is a backdrop to the service.

In presenting his résumé, the speaker never mentioned having a degree in theology or any study at a divinity school. It is Easter morning and he is presenting his thoughts on the importance of two gardens in the spiritual development of mankind: the Garden of Eden and the Garden of Gethsemane. I try to be both a good Christian and a good gardener, so this has my interest and curiosity, although I was not expecting an Easter sermon like this.

So, I googled the symbolism of the garden. From the University of Michigan’s online Dictionary of Symbolism, I quote, “It is an archetypal image of the soul, of innocence, of happiness; it is a place for growth of the inner Self. It is a symbol of consciousness because of its order and enclosed characteristics, as opposed to the unconscious forest.”

Hmm. I have never considered the forest to have unconscious characteristics. I continue to read other descriptions. In the symbolism article in Wikipedia, gardens represent happiness, salvation and purity. Huffpost.com has featured a piece on the spiritual side of gardening.

Is it not possible that man, with his limitation on understanding, grasped only what was practical and culturally acceptable, while the concepts of finding eternal life through control was misconstrued?

Removing man’s drive to dominate might reveal a method for a balanced, respectful co-existence with everything else that the Superior Force, a.k.a. God, has made. Man’s arrogance and complete dismissal of the natural processes includes the dismissal of the uniqueness and differences of a balanced earth.

Is the trend away from organized, structured and controlling religious groups exposing a core repulsion of man’s arrogance of superiority over everything?

How can you promote a natural balance while achieving your goals, whether physical or monetary? Is there money to be made in natural balance? Can you unlearn cultural preferences?

When Jesus came to this greed-infested world, He introduced the concept in human form of a godlike love for all: Love your neighbor as yourself. How hard and how frustrating it must have been to get small minds to expand to the concept of universal love. His sacrifice allows all humans to have access to this creator of universal love, the creator of balance, the creator of all.

Does our destruction of this balance drive us further from its maker? Does its action create an incorrect approach to the gift of beauty and function which is our earth? Some things do not need to be improved by man’s creations. We should ask ourselves if our creations are aligning with the natural balance of creation directed by this universal creating life force, known by most as God.

Does my contribution align with the ultimate design of the universe?
When I garden, I feel “in balance.” I still have plants known as weeds growing, and flying and slithering critters that I wish would respect my boundaries. My food is clean. My little piece of this earth has cycles of birth and death and decomposition.

Destroy less. Love and respect more. Try to connect to a universal love.