Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Shade Trees

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.
~ Greek Proverb ~
All the proverbs I'm featuring today speak to me in one way or another. Of the lot, this one is definitely my favorite. It reminds me of a famous quote by Lakota Sioux Chief Red Cloud:
We cannot simply think of our survival; each new generation is responsible to ensure the survival of the seventh generation. The prophecy given to us, tells us that what we do today will affect the seventh generation and because of this we must bear in mind our responsibility to them today and always.
Both quotes deal with the same message. We alive today have an inherent responsibility to insure we leave this orb in as good, if not better shape, than when we came on the scene. If not, the ramifications of our destructive forces may not be evident for awhile, but by the 7th generation our legacy will be clear.

Do we want to be remembered as the caring or the selfish generation? Do we wish to be viewed as the stewards of Planet Earth or the plunderers?

The choice is ours and today's actions ultimately will deliver our answer to future generations.

6 comments:

  1. To say nothing of being viewed as blunderers!

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  2. Gosh, you made me go back and check the post again! :D After my last boo boo, I was worried I used a "b" instead of a "p".

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  3. Just making an in joke! I take delight in typos and bad English translations in subtitles in Chinese movies.

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  4. My point was, we are blunderers too!

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  5. I agree. In reality, a "p" or a "b" would have worked. It's just that I meant to use the "p" and we both know I can generate typos! :D

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  6. And in Chinese, the "P" and the "B" are really the same (I've seen Peking opera in Beijing...)

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