COVID Convos — An Apology To Mother Earth

by Michael P Coleman

COVID Convos is a series of original columns conceptualized to give you something else to think about as we manage the coronavirus pandemic. Hopefully, they will provide you with a different perspective about an issue related to the crisis…or a brief smile. Remember, with COVID-19: this too shall pass.

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children.”

That’s an old Native American proverb, but you don’t have to be of Native American ancestry to feel its resonance, particularly today. I discovered and posted the proverb on social media 10 years ago today, in commemoration of Earth Day.

More recently, I’ve read stories about the earth healing itself in fairly remarkable ways thanks, in large part, to there being far fewer cars on the streets these days as we battle the novel coronavirus. For example, the Los Angeles area, long infamous for its smog, has cleaner air than it has enjoyed in decades.

The hole in the ozone layer, which I first learned about when I was in grade school decades ago, is shrinking. We’ve largely resisted reducing our carbon footprints. So now, nature’s doing it for us.

And around the world, wildlife that had been driven from their habitats has returned to largely barren streets and neighborhoods, as we retreat to newly minted home offices and adhere to shelter-at-home orders.

As I’ve watched the number of coronavirus infections rise and the COVID-19 human fatality numbers climb, I’ve been struck by the opposite trajectory of the health of earth’s other inhabitants, and the increasing health of the planet itself.

Read MPC’s full column, including his take on moving forward through COVID-19’s eradication and a front-row seat to watch our earth heal.