OUR REAL WEALTH

And now I am uplifted by the amazing story that is emerging from modern science. It tells us from the moment after the Big Bang, there's matter spewed forth in an expanding universe, every particle exerted a tiny pull on every other particle. The universe is not mostly empty space, it is filled with evanescent tendrils of attraction that some people call love. And that attraction is built into the very fabric of the cosmos.

Science informs us that far, far away, way out in the boondocks, is a very undistinguished galaxy, the Milky Way. And among the billions of stars in that galaxy, our sun is a very ordinary one. And on its third planet Earth, a mere speck in the heavens, life arose in the last quarter of the cosmos's existence. And in the very last moment, something astonishing happed. A creature emerged from nature endowed with self awareness, dazzling creativity and a capacity for love and wonder. Gazing out at a chaotic world, that animal imposed order and meaning in myriad forms and brought humanity to prominence, in a cosmic instant.

We are the planet's most recent iteration of life's forms, an infant species, but with the precocity to see our place in the cosmos and dream of worlds yet to come.

I believe we are capable of even greater things; to rediscover our home, to find ways to live in balance with the sacred elements and to create a future rich in joy, happiness and meaning that are our real wealth.

I will die before my grand children become mature adults and have their own children, but I am filled with hope and I imagine heir future rich in opportunity, beauty, wonder and companionship with the rest of creation.

All it takes is the imagination to dream it and the will to make the dream reality.

So let's get on with making it happen and show what our species is really capable of.

7/15/12

David Suzaki

CBC / Force of Nature

Passionate Eye