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Overwhelm

Life, sometimes, can seem overwhelming.

In fact, after we ‘wake up’ to our divine place in the scheme of things, it can often seem even more so!

We become aware of the problems caused by dumpsite disposal of plastics, of the rising salination of productive lands, of the tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of homeless in each of the world’s major cities, of the millions of orphaned and unsupported babies and children across a hundred countries, of the continued desecration of our dwindling rainforests, our fragile atmosphere, our already damaged rivers and our already polluted oceans in the name of The Almighty Dollar.

Awakening brings into sharp focus the widening massive chasm between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’, between international pharmacology and grass-roots natural healing remedies, between the incessant demands of the mighty and the unheard needs of the disadvantaged, between the giant artificial food conglomerates and local natural food co-operatives.

Everywhere we turn we face issues requiring urgent repair…… rigged elections, rigged wars, rigged prices, rigged legislation, rigged laws – every unfair act selfishly enacted to maintain the Maintained and to dis-empower the Dis-empowered.

What can we personally do?

“Nothing, the task is too big” we often reply, dejected and overwhelmed by it all.

Yet, is this so?

120 years ago a very ordinary middle-class lad (of ordinary intellect) was born in a rural village in Hampshire, England, into a family of farmers and parsons of ordinary means.

His name was Richard St Barbe Baker.

As a child, he loved walking through the woods that surrounded his village.

At age 13 he went to Boarding school and furthered his interest in forestry; and at 21 he sailed to Canada and became a missionary and a logger in the untamed wilderness. At 25 he joined the Royal Horse Artillery on the French battlefields; and after the war became a Civil Servant (Department of Social Services) in London.

By age thirty Richard’s life had been reasonably ordinary, with just moments of adventure in it……but it certainly lacked any discernible greatness.

But then he CHOSE to change it.

He went to Cambridge and studied forestry; went to Kenya and set up a Tree Nursery with the Kikuyu people to reforest their denuded land; went to Nigeria and established a similar program; went to the Ivory Gold Coast and did it again. Then went to Palestine and set up another Tree Nursery to reclaim their tree-less wastelands. He then travelled to America and started the ‘Save the Redwoods’ campaign, later met President Franklin Roosevelt and helped establish the American Civilian Conservation Corps which over time involved some six million young Americans in peaceful, conservation and ecological rejuvenation programs.

In 1953 (when 64) he travelled 25,000 miles criss-crossing the Sahara Desert, planning and implementing its re-afforestation. Today some 26 North and Central African countries, because of his efforts, have more forest where once there was only sand.

He travelled tens of thousands of miles lecturing from Germany to Australia promoting revegetation, Green Belts and almost forgotten Organic Gardening practices.

By the time he died (aged 93) his individual effort is believed to have been responsible for the planting of some 26 trillion trees alone through the organisation’s he established.

That’s 26 TRILLION trees.

Not bad for just an ordinary lad, of ordinary intellect and ordinary means, who loved to wander through the woods……

What potential changes inspire YOU to be part of their Solution?

As Richard showed us, the Solution simply unfolds one step at a time…..we don’t need to know all the outcomes or have all the means at our immediate disposal……we just have to start taking steps in the right direction!

These wise words were written by Les Dyer.  Les is a very special man who is making a difference in people’s lives every day.  You can spend time with Les and his wonderful wife, Trudy, at Heartland Retreat