The Once and Future Reality

“Daddy, tell me a bedtime story!”
“Okay, but just one. Which would you like?”
“Tell me the one about the weird animals again! I like that one!”
“Okay… Once upon a time, God created a beautiful picture. He used His brush to paint green fields of grass and tall, mighty trees. He added oceans, and mountains, and even harsh places full of sand or snow. And then, after He created all that, he made creatures to live in His paradise. He made them big and small, short and tall, thin and fat. There was no end to His creativity, for He is God and all things come from him.
“Oh these creatures, they were strange indeed. There millions of different kinds, but some were stranger than others. There was one that was orange with black stripes on its body. It had large fangs and deep, amazing yellow eyes that saw everything in the world around it. When it was happy, it would purr. And even though it hunted other animals, it was not an evil creature. This animal was called a tiger, and it was truly majestic indeed.
Another animal God created was called a frog. These were little creatures with really big eyes, and although most were green, some were other colors, like blue! They could live in water or on land, and they loved to eat flies and other bugs. They made strange calls that only other frogs of the same kind could hear… I guess you could say they sounded a lot like a burp.”
“A burp? That’s just crazy!”
“Yep, but it’s true! God created many, many kinds of animals, too many to tell you about in one night. But I will tell you about one more. In the oceans, God made huge animals that had to swim all the time. Some of these animals he made to be larger than a house! And even though some were the biggest creatures ever to be on God’s world, they ate some of the smallest. There was one, called a Blue Whale, that ate only plankton, which are so small that humans can’t see them without a microscope. These animals breathed air, and had a hole on their tops that blew water out of their bodies, kind of like a nose.”
“… Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Have you ever seen these animals?”
“I’ve seen some of them. They died out before you were born.”
“I like them. Why did God let them die?”
“I don’t think God let them die. God made another animal, one He created in His own image to take care of His world and all His animals. But because this animal was greedy, and selfish, they not only let the animals die, but helped kill them. They did not respect the precious gift they were given by God, and because of that, they lost it.”
“I really would have liked to see some of the cool animals, Dad. Do you think they’ll ever come back?”
“I don’t know… maybe one day, if that selfish animal changes its ways and respects Nature as God had intended. But honestly… I don’t know if they can do that.”
“… Dad?”
“Yes?”
“That animal that killed all the cool ones… that was people, wasn’t it?”
“Yes… yes it was.”

It is my hope and prayer that I will never have to tell my children a story like this. Today’s animals could very well become tomorrow’s mythical creatures. We, as an “intelligent” species, have a responsibility to preserve, protect, and defend the Earth.

Personally, I feel that anyone who doesn’t care about the Earth isn’t paying attention to the splendor around them. Please, do your part and conk them on the head with something heavy (note: their own bloated ego will not suffice).

"In wildness is the salvation of the world."
~Thoreau