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Essay 12: An Ecology of Devotion by Dennis Rivers |
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can learn many new ways of holding many new things, and the evolution of
temperaments inclined to love one’s offspring and teach them these new
ways of holding.
We humans are not alone in this development; we share this evolution
toward learning and creativity with many species, especially our primate
brothers and sisters, chimpanzees, gorillas and bobonos. And we are far
from fully understanding the intelligence of creatures quite different from
us, such as dolphins and bee colonies. But we have gone further on this
path of open adaptability, as far as we know, than any other species, and
therefore our freedom and capacity to make catastrophic mistakes is
much greater than that of any other species. No other creature, for
example, leaves behind leaking piles of radioactive waste, slowly
destroying the genetic integrity of all life as the radioactive contaminants
circulate more and more widely through the biosphere.
“Pregnant Woman” Sigrid Herr
Because we alone have developed the power to destroy all life, we
alone are challenged to love all creatures intensely enough to want to save
them, to love all creatures intensely enough to be willing to restrain our
own appetites, to understand our own hatred and greeds. That, I submit to
you, is a very intense devotion, a trans-formational gratitude, and,
paradoxically, in this era of technological might, that all-embracing love
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