A MORTAL LIFE IS CONNECTED TO PLANET EARTH

All life on earth arises from the land and the seas. The materials from which every plant and animal is constructed were originally integrated as part of the environment. We are a mixture of the dust and the ocean. 

The Torah comments about the lands. Abraham is foretold of a Promised Land. Having been liberated from slavery in Egypt, these people are promised a “land of Milk and Honey.” In Parasha “B’Har,” in the book of Leviticus, we are given instructions about ownership of the Holy Land. Before going into this land, the Children of Israel are granted specific properties, women argue for the right to have land, and so on. 

The turf is important.

We come from and return to the earth. We are part of it.

Once the first human is created, God introduces the soul into this sentient being. Now, spirituality is wedded to physicality. These complementary aspects of a person are connected to the planet. We did not fly in from heaven or another solar system. 

The Torah is teaching us that our very existence is reliant upon maintaining connections with the earth. 

Throughout history, tribes laid claim to and identified with certain plots of land. Cultures and societies evolved that reflected the geography, the weather, and the natural resources of the real estate they inhabited and dominated. 

Wars have been fought, at great cost of life and wealth, to defend and acquire land. People have an intuitive yearning to possess real estate. It is meaningful because it is truly real. Terra firma is the most fundamental basis of wealth throughout history. 

There is deep satisfaction that comes from working the soil. Those who farm or garden know an instinctual pleasure and sense of accomplishment accompanying this activity. It is in our psyche to appreciate the wholeness granted by planting and harvesting.

We live in symbiosis with our planet of origin. It requires us as much as we need it. We think we understand its needs. Do we?

My experience as a physician included studying the human body and contemplating the intricacies of this complex organism. Our many components make for interesting relationships within ourselves. A helpful way to understand health and illness is to recognize patterns of function and metabolism that guide the bodily processes.

Delving into these issues reveals truths about life: 

One is that the universe is built around a relatively small number of foundational patterns determining the nature of processes from atomic to astronomical. 

Another is that what we observe about the human body is a model applicable to other natural wonders, including planets.

For example, our bodies live mutually advantageously with our microflora. This is analogous to the interdependency of the earth and its external life forms. We require attachment to the stuff of our origin as a child needs its mother. The earth is often described as a mother because of the similarities inherent in this description. In addition to essential sustenance, it offers comfort and assurance to our emotional and mental wellbeing. Importantly, it is the milieu in which the soul unites with the body. That background structure is needed to sustain the merger.   

Our personal microflora cannot thrive without attachment to us, the host. If some components are removed, they perish. Similarly, we are the microflora of the planet. We cannot be who and what we are if the physical connection is broken. 

A great dream of humanity is to reach out, explore, and inhabit distant planets. We will lose something of ourselves by doing that. We can compensate for the adverse health effects of weightlessness, build enclosures to provide our needs for oxygen and sustenance, reformulate an atmosphere to our needs, and assure safety in a hostile environment. 

Even if we colonize a world resembling the earth, it will not contain the genetic and spiritual material of which we are made. Embryonic origins are the seeds that make our lives viable. A core of potential energy persists as long as we live. A virtual umbilical cord joins us forever to the planet from which we sprung. Severing from that nucleus leaves us disjointed just as removing an electron from the atom. The heavenly addition to our earthly being degrades without the power derived by dwelling upon the cauldron in which this bond was formed. 

The Microflora is an organ that inhabits and surrounds the body. It is unique for each person, just like one’s DNA. The components of this organ are a complex mixture of organisms that exist in a structure that shifts according to the needs of the flesh and bones. The constantly adjusting populations of microorganisms maintain health. This composite varies in response to the many influences life presents. 

Trauma and disease alter the identity and proportions of microorganisms in the flora. Many situations increase or decrease the composition of the microflora organ. Successful antibiotic therapy eliminates excesses that contribute to susceptibility to infection. Removing unnecessary constituents or adding needed ones is good for us in circumstances of illness.

Members of the flora do not “voluntarily” depart. 

People desire to depart earth for another planet. There may be adventurous, scientific, romantic, or other motivations involved. 

Unfortunately, not everything that we set our sites on is attainable. The material universe has natural boundaries. We are constantly testing the ability to reach those limits. Our home is necessary for important connections. Without that glue, we become unrecognizable.

Our world requires its land, air, and sea life for its own wellbeing, just as our bodies require the life living within and upon them. Micro-members that depart cannot survive the separation. The host, whether planet or person, will have to adjust to even the smallest losses. Probiotic supplements serve to make up for losses in our microflora organ. The earth finds ways to rebuild its microflora.