I watched a program this weekend called "How the Earth Was Made", a two-hour long program that did an excellent job of explaining the age of the Earth and how it is we are now able to tell the story about what happened to the Earth over the past 4.5 billion years. In 4.5 billion years, the Earth has gone from a hot ball of fire that was relentlessly bombarded by space meteors, to a water world, then to a ball of ice, then to a lush greenhouse, then back to ice, until finally the world that it is today. I know this is way oversimplifying, but I am trying to hold your attention in order to get to my real points.

The Earth has undergone cataclysmic changes for BILLIONS of years in order to create the perfect environmental conditions today that make it possible for us, humans, to be here. If the Earth were a person, it would be around 65-70 years old, for in about 2 billion more years, the Earth will be a dead planet, a planet very much resembling Mars. In 2 billion years, all of Earth's resources will be gone and this lush, beautiful, blue planet that we live on, a planet that is teeming with life, vibrancy and color, will be a lifeless and colorless ball in space. At the end of the show, there I sat with my eyes fixed on the screen hearing the words in my mind over and over and over again "The Earth will die...the Earth will die?...the Earth will die." I was just completely numbed inside by that statement. Everything dies eventually, so why would this come as such a shock to me? That is why I am writing.

There is only one thing harder to ponder than our own mortality and that is our reason for existence. Humans talk to each other about living in the moment, embracing every single day of our lives. We also believe that humans have eternal souls, and that our souls never die, so death is not something we fear, a fact which is a comfort to us all. But what about our planet? Does our planet Earth, the planet that hosts each and every one of our fragile and miraculous lives, have a kind of soul or consciousness?

I admit that I am a tree hugger, and I guess I am going to have to add to that list Earth hugger, for I am today profoundly saddened and disturbed at this realization that the Earth will just die one day, this planet which has provided the life source for billions upon trillions of living organisms for billions of years. We talk about the Earth being our "Mother" for Earth is the ultimate life giver. But Earth can, like all of us, only live for so long, and she too will come to the end of her days.

Two billion years seems like an infinite amount of time to us, almost incomprehensible, but to Earth, it is the last two years of her life. We will be long gone before Earth is in her final stages before death. Perhaps we will have by then discovered an Earth-like planet (Venus, maybe) that is ready to inhabit human life. It is nearly impossible to try and imagine what will be happening 2 billion years from now, so all we can do is be in our moment as presently as we can. However, being in our individual life moments is why we sometimes forget to rememberhow lucky we are to just be here, and how grateful we should be for every beautiful image we get to see every day, for every clean breath of air we take in, for every single second of living we get to live on this beautiful and generous planet who gives us everything and asks for nothing in return.

Please be good to the Earth, for she is the only reason any of us are here. Think of Earth in ways that maybe go outside your comfort zone. Think of Earth as a living entity who has a story to tell just like you and Ido, and who one day may not have anyone to tell it anymore. Say a special pray for her, for she lives just as you and I do and she, like us, will one day die. Does Earth have a soul or a consciousness? I don't know. No one does. But it can't hurt to say one more prayer at the end of your day, can it?