The Balrog: May 26, 2010
In J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy the Balrog was released from the great depths of the mines of Moria because the Dwarves delved too deeply in their avarice for the precious metal Mithril.
Now it seems we have a Balrog of our own spewing forth from great depths beneath the Gulf of Mexico with devastating and destructive oil (our own "precious") which we ceaselessly seek to "mine" from whatever source we can.
No matter that this is dinosaur fuel, non-renewable and the bane of our atmosphere. Now it threatens untold life and is unleashed. We seem to have no Gandalf to defeat it, and even if this volcano of oil is finally plugged we will know it's damage deeply for years to come.
So much of what is being pursued by human beings reflects our great ignorance of our place on this planet. When we use the very word "world" it conjures in most peoples minds the "world of humans." If we use the word "Earth" we conjure something entirely different in our minds.
It is this great ignorance born, ironically, from our highly developed and specialized intelligence that is the root problem of humanity and the "real" world. For humans are not separate from life, the earth and all things within it despite our relentless insistence that we are somehow "above" or "beyond" the natural world.
All things upon this planet are interwoven and interdependent. There is no real separation except in our own minds---and it is a false separation. Everything affects everything. Until we realize this...awaken to this--we suffer great peril.
At our best humans could be stewards within and for life. At our worst we will destroy ourselves and many other life-forms with us. I fear we tread the path of darkness and bring forth the Balrogs.
