There is supposed to be a kind of ecological interaction in nature which relates man's contact not only with fellow men but also with other created things. With this interaction, dependence on other constitutive elements is built. When not allowed to be, “the human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together” (Laudato Si', no. 48).
Deterioration in the ecological interaction is so apparent in man's sporadic care for nature. While human life and happiness is often appraised care should be given to the plant and animal species for the reason that they suffer the consequences of the inordinate elation of the self of beings.
With technology and its attendant advancement, we have contrived new 'environments' which we are accustomed to. From birth to death we are denied the maximum physical contact with nature wherefore cement, asphalt, glass, metal, inter alia are deluging elements of man's new environment. We have to limit our contact with these and get more from the natural environment. So much artificial materials are found around us and we are often submerged in them to the extent that we tend to seclude the naturals from the artificials.
We have zoos and natural gardens in our day and age and so much space is given to humans. In themselves, these preservative arenas are good for that they remind us about nature and how appreciative we have to be of its beauty. On the other hand, we do more harm than good when we privatize plant and animal species in the zoos and gardens of the world. Humans live in an artificial world with technology spearheading it. Technology which draws a disparity between human environment and natural environment is inimical. It should seek to promote the sustainability of ecological interaction.
Interaction with the rest of nature tends to promote man's own life expectancy. We live longer and stronger with other elements of nature. A quick glimpse at the Amazon forest explicitly makes us blameworthy of privatization of species. We depend on secluded arenas for life when we should be in continuous interaction with them. Racism, we would have termed it if they were human. We need plant and animal species to perpetuate our own survival.
We have to grow more trees, breakdown the barriers of 'ecological' separation and learn to live with what the creator has deemed necessary for our survival. We have much to lose if we seclude them. 'The world is a zoo and a garden'. We live in it. With St. Francis, we now learn to view plant and animal species as brothers and sisters.
We resolve to live and interact with the rest of nature.
St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us.
Pax Et Bonum
More of Nature, Less of artificial world
Cosmology
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