Thursday, May 22, 2008

Being Green

Being Green

In this day and age when book publishers and literary magazines are all looking for Green books, you might look at my book and read the synopsis and reviews and think that the only thing green about my book are the leaves of the rose on the cover. If you take the time to read The Last Rose, however, I think you might just realize that it may be about the only real answer to solving all of our environmental problems.

Some will expect that the book is about the Baltimore water taxi accident. It is not. I was in the water under the taxi that day, and I can assure you that the harbor is an environmental problem. Even the divers that worked so hard to recover all of the victims had to receive antibiotic treatments because of the pollution. This is not what any of the tourists think about while they are visiting the harbor, and they shouldn’t. We all need to enjoy all the beautiful sights of this world, so we know what we are at risk of losing if we continue on our present path.

My book talks about the power of positive thinking, and positive thinking is a power that will push each of us, as individuals, into acting more green. Unlike the power of poverty that forces us to conserve because we have no choice, the power of positive thinking actually allows us to enjoy doing something positive for the environment.

When everyone is talking about the importance of recycling and not wasting our natural resources, most are overlooking the one thing that we must always recycle. Maybe that is because it is also the one thing that we must always waste. It is the only thing that we will never run out of, because the more of it we waste, the more of it we receive.

Yes, my book talks about the power of positive thinking, but it is really about the Power of Love.






We moved to a small town in southern New Jersey after I left the service. Since this was not our hometown we sometimes felt like outsiders. I always felt like I was anonymous. My wife worked at the local hospital and my daughter worked over two hours away at a college in Newark, NJ. When I lost both of them in the water taxi accident, I never expected the outpouring of love that we received. I knew that many of the students and faculty from Lisa’s school made the long trip to Vineland, but when someone later told me that there were six bus loads of them, I was overwhelmed. I hugged over 3,000 people at the funeral, and stories about how both the girls touched peoples' lives filled our local paper for seven days. I always knew that they were special. I just never knew anyone else knew it.

I suddenly realized that all of the love that you put out into the world works on the hearts and minds of all mankind. I now know how easy it is to make a difference in this world just by striving to be the best that we can be. Not the best that we can be for ourselves, but the best we can be for all mankind. Changing the world is simply the process of one individual changing the life of one other individual. One person at a time, one day at a time.

The only way we will ever make a greener world is to show others how easy it is. All we have to do is base all of our decisions on love, not fear, not greed, not power, not force, just love. I am sure that all of you reading this would agree that right now a relatively small handful of people are changing the entire economy of this world, because they are basing their decisions on greed not love. Imagine how different it would be if we could convince them to base their decisions on love.

The only way to teach that is through example. Each time we make a difference in someone else’s life, no mater how small, it will encourage them to do the same for others. And each time that happens, we all become a stronger force for good. When the time comes that we all base our actions on love and compassion for all mankind, there will be no need for war or weapons. It only requires a small effort from each of us to accomplish what may seem impossible. It just requires all of us to do it together.

When you love all of mankind, you have no choice but to love the environment.

Love always,

Thomas E. Pierce
www.the-last-rose.com

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