This morning, I happened upon a Facebook post displaying the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America. The post was requesting citizens of the US to get behind the reciting of this pledge once more, as it has been fading out of use in the school system. While I have absolutely no problem with the reciting of such a pledge to flag and country, and neither with the singing of national anthems for that matter, it did make me wonder whether perhaps it was now time that people dispensed with the notion of flag and country, and instead embraced a new kind of pledge: a pledge of allegiance to life.
Let's face it, this planet on which we live has shrunk. With the rise of commercial air travel and the dawning of the digital age, our world has gotten a whole lot smaller. In fact, with space travel and the ability to understand the known universe, we now know that actually this planet of ours we call Earth, is just one incredibly, insignificant item in a vast cosmos, a cosmos that is littered with billions upon billions of other planets, stars, asteroids, comets and galaxies. Take a moment and imagine a white sand beach stretching off into the distance, and then imagine a single, solitary grain of sand. That one grain would be Earth, and all the other grains would represent all of the other objects in the universe.
But there is a very remarkable thing about this planet and it is one thing that sets it apart from every other known object in the universe - it supports life. Our planet is a miracle. As far as we know, it is unique. Probability theorists would have us believe that the chances are high that other planets must exist that will also support life forms, but as yet, that is speculation and remains only a theory. Earth is amazing, it is incredible. Space travel has allowed humans to become the first animals to view their planet from afar. And what a beautiful sight it is too. Every aspect of this planet is extraordinary. The mighty oceans; the lofty peaks of snow covered mountains; vast valleys and canyons; barren deserts and wastelands; jungles and forests; waterfalls and snaking rivers; frozen ice caps and glaciers; plains, prairies and steppes; lakes and fjords; seasonal changes, weather patterns, wind, rain, snow, hot blistering sun, clouds... It is incredible. And I didn't even mention a single animal, fish or bird yet. The sheer number of species of life form is staggering and scientists are still, even now, when we think we know so much, discovering new species and even in places that have no right to support life, like deep in the ocean, by volcanic thermal vents. If I were to chose one single word to describe Earth it would be this: miracle.
When you view the Earth from space, there are no visible borders between countries, no delineation lines that can be seen. Country is a human invention, a term used to describe a group of people that occupy a certain parcel of land, governed by one single group. The same is true for race and religion. These are notions and concepts that exist only in the mind and as such, that thinking can be altered. It is time to let go of these old ideas and it is time to embrace the new. I propose a new view of life and I call it simply: One.
One planet
One life
One people
One heart
One soul
One spirit
One.
With this in mind, I believe that it is now time for a new kind of pledge, a pledge that unites all peoples of Earth, all nations. It's a pledge to life
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