By Muyiwa Adetiba

Would we treat the earth differently if we realised it was in anguish? Would our attitude be different if we knew we would be held accountable for our uses and abuses of the planet? Theseweresome of the questions that crossed my mind more than once during the enforced lockdown and more recently, during the just concluded ‘Season of Creation’.

The ‘Season of Creation’ is a yearly event during which the Catholic Church focuses on creation and the environment for a month. It ended on October 4 and couldn’t have been more relevant given all that has gone on this year. These two events made me to deliberateoften on the relationship between earth, plant, animal and man. And to also re-examine the relationship between man and his Supreme Creator.

We know animals show emotions because we live with some of them. We have seen them express love, joy, fear and many other emotions that humans express. These emotions are not limited to domestic animals alone. Those in the wild express similar emotions. A cursory study of the animal world generally will reveal that it experiences most of the emotions- along with maternal, sexual and territorial instincts – that man is known to have.

We know animals communicate among themselves in their own way and look out for the weak among them whenever possible. We also know they mourn the dead, some very deeply. In other words, they have a soul, however defined. Yet, despite knowing these things, we tease, taunt and even kill them for pleasure. We take them on circus shows where they fight and sometimes kill themselves so we can be entertained. We cage them without any regard for the same freedom which we crave; which every living spirit craves. While they might understand the need to kill for food because of the exigencies of the world they live in, their souls should feel tortured at the almost sadistic wantonness of our killings.Yes, they kill us too.

READ ALSO: Thrift collector commits suicide over N200,000 debt in Kwara

But only when we invade their territory – which we often do -and mainly in self-defence. And to the extent that they kill mainly for food and take only what they need from the earth, they have turned out to be more responsible inconservingthe provisions of nature than we have. So if God was to judge between man and animal, should we be surprised at what the verdict would be?

Many would argue that plants have a soul as well. I don’t know much about that. But I do know some plants ‘go to bed’ (their leaves and flowers droop) when the sun goes down and rise as it were, with the sun.

The spirituality of plants has been a subject of debate for ages. What is not in debate however is the existential relationship between man and plant – from their leaves which we use for food, their sap for drink, their roots for medicineto their oxygen which sustains life for us.If we discount ‘men of God’ who claim the ability to talk to plants and receive messages from them, or the native doctors who claim the power to talk to plants and make them do their bidding, we are still left with many plant experts who believe that plants respond to the love and care shown to them.

We know that plants which are nurtured regularly with good food and clean air will always blossom. Even the bible acknowledges that trees planted by the river will yield their fruits ‘in season’. I have a couple of plants in my little garden which are so responsive to water that they ‘tell’ me whenever they have not been adequately watered – leaves drop, heads bow. And if allowed to be, plants would play their parts in maintaining the ecological balance that is so vital to life on the planet because they give more to the earth than they take. Again, if God was to judge between man and plant on which is maintaining the cause of creation, should we be surprised at His verdict?

Does the earth have a soul? We have it on authority in the bible that the earth cried out. And that the cries were heard by God. That should tell us something. We also have it from experience that the elements that make up earth will not co-operate with excessive abuse. When abused, the soil for example, will not yield its softness to whatever is planted. The air will encourage rather than contain wild fires.

And water, the most recalcitrant of the elements, will fight back in whatever way it can as man has found many times to his discomfiture. Yet man needs the co-operation of the elements to have any good quality of life. We only have to access – through cruises, or air travel – those vast but yet to be exploited parts of the earth, to understand and appreciate the beauty of nature when the elements – plant, animals and earth – are in harmony. Beauty that will vanish once man makes his destructive entrance. Again if God was to judge between man and earth, should His verdict surprise us?

The point in all of this is that everything God made is inter-connected. Creation is made to replenish itself and it will do so if we all maintain our lanes to use a common parlance. There will be rain in season if we do not tamper with the process. And with rain, there will be food in season. And the cycle of life which will be beneficial to all of earth’s inhabitants, will be re-established. But first, man stop crossing boundaries. He must show empathy to the needs of earth’s other inhabitants. He must be more accommodating.

More importantly, man more show respect to the Creator and other creations.  The consequences of our disrespect will otherwise be beyond us. We have witnessed many of them already. There will be more. They will come in the form of viruses, earthquakes, storms, tornados and poisoned air. We do not have the arsenal to fight the elements should they rise up against us.

And if we needed reminding, let me restate that from earth we came – the same earth we treat so shabbily – and to earth we shall return.

vanguardngr.com