It's easy to feel overwhelmed and hopeless in the face of the myriad problems afflicting our world today. Like the prevalence of war, ecological disaster strains one's faith in humanity; for it often seems that human beings never learn from the errors of the past.

Our callous treatment of other forms of life is intimately bound with our beliefs about our relationship with the natural world. We experience ourselves as separate from nature; reason has robbed us of our birthright. When this conviction took hold we embarked upon a reckless and short-sighted course - in order to conquer nature, our adversary, we developed technology that now threatens the delicate balance of life.

Our ego-centric mindset once served a useful purpose."Individualism" enabled us to survive and expand; also it inspired such unprecedented concepts as democracy and the inalienable rights of man. These ideas were an outward thrust of creativity, promoting the evolution of our systems of government, medicine, psychology, and much else. Throughout this transition, analytical thinking was valued above all other faculties of the human mind.

But as anyone who has studied the growth and proliferation of cancer cells will know, uninhibited expansion leads inevitably to destruction; and it threatens the health of a cell, organism, human being, or - in this case - the entire world. The beliefs and values that once enabled our victory of a seemingly-hostile environment now threaten our security on Earth. To steer a more life-affirming course we need to re-examine our self-image - our deepest convictions about ourselves and our place in the natural scheme.

The Native Americans, for the most part, saw themselves as essential threads in the web of life; in other words, they believed that the natural world was responsive to their thoughts, feelings and actions. Accordingly, they replenished what they took from nature with humility and gratitude. They felt a kinship with the animals that they hunted for food. It may not ever be possible to ascertain when, or how, such ideas first took hold in the minds of these people. Nor can we pinpoint exactly when our own culture assumed its stance of apartness from nature; though I would suggest that the Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in our history, from a spiritual standpoint.

Many people in modern industrialized societies, who are concerned about the Earth crisis, are drawing inspiration and affirmation from the beliefs of Native Americans and other tribal peoples. What THEY understood and accepted intuitively WE are learning to grasp intellectually as we are faced, more and more, with the consequences of our belief systems. Because we were not indoctrinated, by our culture, into healthy attitudes towards the natural world, we have to learn the hard way: by facing the devastating effects of pollution, overpopulation, animal extinction, and natural catastrophes.

But by committing to mending the harm we've done, and exploring ways in which our world can be healed, we also may come to experience ourselves as integral parts of the web of life. We may learn to see divinity in all things - and deeply revere life as a result of our new-found consciousness. This lesson will seep into our bones, as we reap understanding from the pain of our reckless destruction; and perhaps we'll come to know that this course was not, in fact, misguided - because it brought us to inner knowledge that we would not have attained any other way.

The Earth crisis has arisen to educate humanity's soul in the 21st Century.