Heroes Not Zombies

I love this photo. The fire of the Sun has turned the sky orange and tinged the water laden dark cloud red. Fingers of rain reach down to soak the surface of the Earth. The little silhouettes reveal signs of Life, of trees on the far left and of a human constructed road and telegraph pole in the centre.

This scene is one of a spectacular concurrence of the elemental flows – fire, water, earth and air – which combine and interact to create and nurture the life forces and evolutionary drives which flourish on this little planet.

Fire. The energy of Sun without which there would be no Life, and with too much of which there would be no Life. Water. The apparently simple molecule of hydrogen and oxygen combined, which cycles around the planet, falling as rain on mountains and plains, creating rivers to reach the sea, evaporating under the heat of the Sun to fill the air with clouds, ready to fall again onto the earth. Earth. The carbon laden surface rich with a vast array of minerals, the substrates of all existence, without which there would be no forms. Air. Rich in water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide, ready to be sucked into the plants which use the Sun’s energy to turn it into stems and leaves and flowers and fruit.

The astonishing plant kingdom, our predecessor in the story of Life on Earth, the complex, vast web of living organisms, mind boggling in its diversity, adaptability and resilience.

And we humans, with our inventiveness, our creativity, our ability to transform whatever environment we live in.

Isn’t the ordinary, everyday, just astonishing? Isn’t this planet and our very existence utterly awe inspiring?