Lessons from the Lowly Earthworm
We were out for a morning walk one day — just me and the dogs, which is typically a very mindful exercise for me. I use this time to connect with the day and experience gratitude for the gifts of life. It had rained the evening before, and the road had already dried while random recesses formed small pools. As we turned onto the urban trail that followed the footprint of the power lines, I turned my attention to the grass, glistening with beads of water in the morning sun.
Each drop seemed to rest atop individual blades, like tiny jeweled crowns. I marveled at Her perfection and attention to detail and felt overwhelmed by Her beauty. Like often is the case with me, I cried, and thanked The Creator for Her gifts, nature all around me in perfect synch, my words of gratitude spilling forth amid a chorus of song birds, all beaming with joy at the day before them.
As I slowly walked with the dogs, my heart continued to fill with Her love. I looked down I saw a tiny earthworm, wriggling it’s amorphous body on the asphalt, as the sun‘s heat overtook its ability to cross the asphalt path, into the safety of the dew-drenched grass just a few inches from it’s reach.
Being a student of compassion, I did what I thought was the only reasonable thing to do. I bent down and picked up the little critter, tossing it into the grass and saving its life. “Wow, am I awesome, or what?!?,” I thought. SAVE THE EARTHWORMS!!!
As I continued to walk with my dogs, I looked down and saw another earthworm drying the sun, then another, then another, then as I cast my gaze down the trail I saw as far as my focus would go, tiny wriggling bodies, and many more whose lifeless little worm corpses had already dried in the sun, their existence a sunny day or two away from worm dust. Sunlight danced through the grass as I pondered the plight of these creatures and why my consciousness brought me into their world. I realized I couldn’t save the earthworms for there was nothing to save, not that their lives weren’t worth saving, it’s just that somehow, their seemingly tragic path across the asphalt had a purpose.
A few weeks later we were on the same walk — just me and my dogs. As we turned onto the trail under the power lines, a starling sang to us from her perch on the metal tower above us. I had heard that bird song many times before but I hadn’t tied the call to the species. There she was, her feathers shining with the appearance of an iridescent, oily slick, her song an intricate and perfect call to the rise of the morning sun. Beauty all around us.
As we slowly walked up the trail I saw another starling. She was pecking at the asphalt, busy about her day. My eyes strained to focus on her and her business and as she jabbed away I could make out the little mass of lifeless worm corpses jigging from her beak. I looked down the path and I saw another starling doing the same thing, and another, and another — and as far as I could see down the path, starlings snacked away at their earthworm buffet.
The bird closest to me had a big ‘ole beakful, and in a flash it took off, darting like a bullet between buildings and trees and disappearing into the day.
Like often is the case with me, I cried, and thanked The Creator for Her gifts, nature all around me in perfect synch. The worms didn’t need to be saved, their lives ended for the birds and the songs they share each morning. There is balance in everything, a flow to the natural world in which we are all a part. Earthworms don’t need saving. Birds don’t need saving. People don’t need saving. There’s a much bigger thing that does need our help and it even goes beyond the scale of this beautiful planet we all share.
Consciousness. We’re all part of one collective consciousness and each and every one of us has an impact. Every thought, every word, every action — only together will we save humanity. Nature, like life itself, is a perfect balancing act, and flows of energy, water, wind, thought, and action contribute to its equilibrium.
Not that any of this is groundbreaking news. It’s all been said in many ways, many times before, from ancient texts to new-age podcasts — we must raise our collective consciousness through acts of kindness, compassion, and love and with every action, think through its impact on this perfect, magical balancing act in which we all exist.
From the titans of industry who think themselves as Gods, to the lowly earthworms, who nourish the soil and feed the creatures who bless our mornings with their songs, we’re all part of Her one incredible creation and it’s time to wake up — we’re all on the same team.
