Is our fishbowl too big?

Imagine you are in a fishbowl. Imagine that you can see all around it, so you're completely aware of what's going on inside it. If you saw other fish causing havoc to the fishbowl environment so that the water is getting polluted and that the bowl has sprung a leak, would you ignore that? "Gosh, the water is running out and if I/we don't stop it draining the bowl, soon we'll have no water left!" If that was your reality, would you act?

Well it's the reality of the fishbowl called earth, but not nearly enough of us are doing anything about the water that's, metaphorically, running out.

Maybe it's because our fishbowl is too big. We can't actually see the water draining out because it's not obvious that the oil reserves are running out, the world climate is going out of control, the disparities between the very rich and the very poor are getting ever greater...

Or is it that we can see this happening, but the rate of change is such that we think it won't happen in our lifetime? What do we care of the water runs dry 100 years from now - we won't be affected!

The Ten Commandments have something to say about this state of affairs, in commandment number two:

You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. [Exodus 20:4-6; NIV]

It seems to me that our idols are the materialistic pursuits that are leading to the destruction of the planet: and it may well not be our generation that suffers for this - but our children's children certainly will.

Even if you are not religious, surely this is a truth you can accept?

It is not an excuse to say "the fishbowl's too big: I can't solve the problems", because that's like dropping litter in the street thinking "my one little wrapper can't do any harm".

Every little helps. Time is running out. Start changing the way you live: NOW.

---

Also posted on LinkedIn Pulse.