I was reading an interview yesterday with the inimitable Jane Goodall in the July issue of Shambhala Sun. As if we needed any more reasons to love her and kneel at the feet of her wisdom, here’s a little excerpt: “My reason for hope is- first of all- my youth program, Roots and Shoots. This is the way I explain why it’s called that: children are like plants. They start out as a tiny seed. Then wee roots and shoots appear. They’re weak at first, but the power within the seed is so magical that the little roots reach the water and the little shoots reach the sun. Eventually, they can push rocks aside work through cracks in a brick wall. They can even knock a wall down. The rocks and the walls are the problems we’ve inflicted on the planet—environmental and social – but roots and shoots surround the world. …Secondly, my reason for hope is the resilience of nature…I think of the scientists who drilled down into the permafrost and brought up the remains of an Ice Age squirrel’s nest. In the plant material, they found three living cells and from those living cells they managed to recreate the plant, which is meadow’s wheat. It’s 32,000 years old, but it’s now growing and seeding and reproducing. That’s the resilience of nature, the human brain and the indomitable human spirit. The big problem today is that so many people feel insignificant. They feel that the problems facing the world are so huge that there’s nothing they can do, so they do nothing. And as an individual maybe there really isn’t that much, but when you get thousands, and then millions, of individuals all doing the best they can every day for the environment and for other beings, then you get huge change. “ ___________ So then, friends...what are your roots and shoots up to? Do you believe in the magical power within your tiny little seed? How can you use that power to do the best you can every day to bring love, hope and change to the world?
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 12:00:33 +0000
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