The ancients considered the earth a living thing, just as man is a living thing. How can the earth support life, if it is not alive? How can a solar system support life, if it is not alive? Death does not support life. In the universe of life there is no death, only a continual transformation of appearances, forms, types, and structures. Bodies wear out but the life in them is eternal and immortal, and it goes on to the various purposes for which it was intended. Among these purposes, of course, is the growth of things.
Each human being is fulfilling one destiny, and this one destiny is manifested within himself. In it he shares with all human beings his human destiny and, to a very marked degree, shares with all non-human beings their non-human destinies. We are not the determiners of that destiny, but merely the agencies of its fulfillment.
Therefore, we should live in a kindly, gentle, constructive manner, without waste, without pride, without arrogance, but with eternal thoughtfulness and gratitude that life is a being, and that this being is our redeemer and protector.