Humility

Nature cares nothing about insurance claims or zoning. Nature does not care at all. Nature is.

We are part of a natural world. Human beings are not demigods, immune from the basic facts of physics and chemistry. We can have acute awareness of our status in the world. The upside is that our frontal lobes enable us to understand something about the natural state in which we live. The downside is that our arrogance prevents us from learning to adapt with Nature instead of fighting against it. Much of this arrogance stems from religious speculation and indoctrination about the human being's semi-divine status.

The lessons of the last week here in the Eastern U.S. are clear. Look at a few slide shows on the Web about Hurricane Irene's aftermath. Reflect on your real personal power in face of the forces of Nature. Do not dismiss or deny your own vulnerability  to accident or circumstance in any moment. Let that in. Sit with it. Allow it to affect the way you see your own life and the lives of all beings around you. This practice, in my own experience, fosters a deep humility, which improves my appreciation of all life.