A Free Spirit. Betty Shine

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ too often, and studies of these patterns suggest an urgency about the situation that we have never seen before.

      Through my work I have seen the most appalling tragedies when it comes to ‘pay-back time’. We all have to live with this thought, because Universal Law is unbending and unchanging, and it is a great teacher. In fact, it has been the only constant thing throughout my life. It has taught me that there is no hiding place. The justice given out by the laws of the land are a pale substitute for those we will eventually receive from spiritual sources.

      Meanwhile, animals are suffering. Whales are washed up on beaches, miles from their usual habitat. When they are shepherded out to sea by the incredibly hard-working and compassionate teams of people who always turn out on these occasions, the whales will invariably swim back to a certain death on shore. Their natural radar – which has kept them out of trouble in the past – has been affected by unnatural vibrations above and beneath the sea.

      Similarly, migrating birds are losing their way. Several species arrive at destinations that are foreign to them, and then have to contend with climates that cannot protect them.

      Hundreds of these stories are brought to us on our televisions and in our newspapers every day. But what are we doing about it? Each and every one of us has to take an active part and participate in the discussions and decisions which at the moment are left to small minority groups. Otherwise the collapse of the Earth’s structure will have a ‘knock-on’ effect on a scale we have yet to experience.

      Take the time to study what is happening in your own country, and around the world. Whatever you do, don’t put your head in the sand and pretend that it won’t affect you, because it will.

      Humanity has survived for well over 4,600 million years, in spite of the fact that it has experienced awesome changes – changes that have destroyed whole civilisations.

      Long ago, people knew little of the world outside their own community, but within their own boundaries they instinctively knew that if they contaminated their surroundings they would die. In the forest, for examples, tribes would use a particular area for a time and then move on so that the region could regenerate.

      Today, because of over-population, we all have to live amidst the rubbish heaps that are increasing in number and size every day. There is no place on earth that has not been affected, and yet it seems that governments around the world are still not prepared to spend enough money on environmental issues. The balance that sustains life on this planet is far more fragile than most people realise.

      Acid rain is corrosive. It not only damages buildings but also kills trees, freshwater fish and vegetation. Two of the main sources of acid rain are the sulphur dioxide that emanates from coal-burning power stations and the nitrogen oxides from car exhausts. But how many people think about these issues? Most simply want to get from A to B as quickly as possible, no matter what the consequences may be.

      Every nation needs to address these problems before it is too late. Damage to the ozone layer has already affected millions. People can no longer sunbathe in safety because of the fear of contracting skin cancer, but little has been written about the way it has affected the rest of our lives. There used to be a time when summer vacations by the sea were relaxing and health-giving. This has changed dramatically. Now we are advised to protect ourselves by covering up, and to study the pollution charts to find out whether a particular part of the coast is safe for bathing. In fact, there are no safe bathing areas now, simply those that haven’t quite reached the level of pollution considered to be dangerous to our health.

      I was asked to heal the skin of someone who had been burned by chemicals whilst swimming in the sea. When his family investigated, they found that a factory was spilling chemicals into a river that led into that part of the coast.

      I also saw a little girl who lost her sight because of polluted sea water, and it took several months of treatment before she regained full vision. She was lucky. Wind surfers too have suffered skin complaints after being in contact with sea water, even though they wear protective clothing. The list is endless.

      Casualties are not only human, either. Thousands of fish are deformed and are chemically neutered, and so cannot breed, because of the hormones that are finding their way into the sea.

      The latest news, in the year 2000, is that the biggest hole in the ozone layer over the northern hemisphere will appear this spring. This means that Britain and Europe will be even more exposed to the harmful ultraviolet rays which cause ageing and skin cancer. Farming under these circumstances will be extremely difficult, as some crops will fail without the protection of the ozone layer.

      From research commissioned by Friends of the Earth, it has been found that the air quality in Britain deteriorated in 1999 to its worst level for a decade. Poor air quality is estimated to cause 24,000 premature deaths in Britain each year. Traffic fumes have been associated with diseases ranging from leukaemia and other cancers, to bronchitis and heart disease.

      Our lives will never be the same, and although we have to accept this now, it should never have happened. Fifty years ago, scientists were aware of the dangers we could face if industries went ahead with certain money-saving projects, but they decided to turn a blind eye. Instead, dangerous decisions have been made by people who have wormed their way into the inner sanctums of politics, simply to feed their own greed.

      I find it laughable the way in which environmental issues are addressed in Parliament. If politicians make any useful contribution at all, it almost always carries a rider, which is that it will be dealt with in due course – anything from five to ten years hence or more. In that time we could all be dead! In this day and age, when technology is fast-moving and computers are out of date after only a few months, surely the people who govern should get a move on and not sit on the issues that can endanger lives?

      Environmental issues should be at the forefront of regular Parliamentary debates, but instead they are put on the back burner. Many politicians are family men and women, and it is their children who will suffer. You would think that this alone would spur them on to defy opposition to any other dangerous issues that will affect the environment in which we live. But it seems that few are interested.

      History repeats itself again and again, and we are told that governments have learned from the past. I fear they have not. You only have to consider the quotation at the beginning of this chapter, and note that Uncle Vanya

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQEBKwErAAD/4gxYSUNDX1BST0ZJTEUAAQEAAAxITGlubwIQAABtbnRyUkdC IFhZWiAHzgACAAkABgAxAABhY3NwTVNGVAAAAABJRUMgc1JHQgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAA9tYAAQAA AADTLUhQICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABFj cHJ0AAABUAAAADNkZXNjAAABhAAA СКАЧАТЬ