Culture & Art

Life of the Land

Monday, January 31st, 2011

Community Contributed

By G.T. Larson

“We are life that wants to live in the midst of other life that wants to live,” Albert Einstein once said.

Many of us love this island, this land, but the question should be asked: do we love the life of this land? Much of our attention has been given to the interaction between humans and everything else, for we are the only creatures on Earth capable of destroying all the life of the land or protecting any of the life of the land.

The early Hawaiians knew that the natural world was their sole source of food, clothing and shelter, which necessitated a deep since of respect, even reverence for the land. Today, the preservation of the natural world has been somewhat relegated to the realm of being a nice thing to do, a good cause, be green, save the whales and all that. But the true essence of the land, the lessons contained therein, lessons that speak of balance, lessons, that for some of us, speak of the Creator, are being drowned out by the noise of the world.

We have more time-saving devices than ever, but less time than ever. In reality, time is the same length as it’s always been: a minute, an hour, a day, a month and a year are still a minute, an hour, a day, a month, and a year long. We just have much more to do now; important things, like trying to make a living, paying the bills, maybe raising a family. These are responsible endeavors, but even they are being crowded into smaller and smaller corners of the day. Technological advances have brought us to the point of 24/7 technology. Using the term advances usually has a positive connotation, but is it a sign of advancement to spend large amounts of the day texting, tweeting, and twittering? And if we are truly honest with ourselves, are all those phone calls, messages and tweets drawing us closer to our loved ones and advancing a useful, caring society?

Civilization is being separated from its roots. We are an integral part of the natural world, but we have allowed ourselves to be distracted from the real world and lured into an electronic illusion. This does not mean that all technology is bad, for this article was written on a modern computer. Instead, we need to be the masters of our technology not the slaves to it. Most importantly, we need to get up from the computer, turn off the TV, put down the gaming device and get our head outside. Look up at the stars, down at the flowers and across the mountains to the sea.

Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono – the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness. Seek for the righteousness of the land. Aloha Ke Akua.