Like Pangea
It is well believed and thorougly established by evidence that once, very long ago, all the land on earth was lumped together on a super-continent we now call Pangea. Life formed and evolved on this massive land mass, completely oblivious to plate tectonics and the inevitable fact that one day, Pangea would be ripped apart (very slowly) and spread between bodies of water.
We think of continents as very rigidly established things: North America, South America, Eurasia, Australia, Antarctica and Africa; throughout the course of human history these land masses have never changed. The ground beneath our feet is a constant. I doubt you’ve ever worried that the earth beneath you would ever rend itself in two (albeit slowly), giving brith to a new continental drift.
To me, this speaks volumes. “Everything is made to be broken,” comes to mind whenever I think about Pangea. All things, regardless of their seeming stability and constance, will eventually be torn apart by an undercurrent of violent “plate-tectonics”. Nothing is forever, nothing is granted. Not even the ground you stand on.
And we all want a strong foundation. A strong plot of dirt to ground ourselves on. But remember, this is an unpredictable world. An earthquake lasting less than 30 seconds can level all of that into a pretty pile of rubble and freshly destitute people. To reference current events, take a look at Haiti.
And so, where do you stand when the very earth you depended on has siezed up in tremors and is dragged apart?
I’m trying to figure that out for myself.
I think that I simply end up drowning in a newly created ocean…
