Jungle Law

Many of the inmates I work with were gang members before and sometimes even after their incarceration. These social outcasts lived by jungle law, where the weak must give way to the strong or be crushed. I was watching a PBS documentary that reminded me of this. It featured the seasonal monsoons and droughts of Africa. When the rains were abundant, the rivers, lakes and streams all ran full of life-giving water. But during the dry season, first the streams then the rivers and lakes began to dry up. Food becomes scarce as the land broils and becomes parched under the blazing sun. Waterholes concentrate the animals, and when the elephants come to drink all of the other animals make way. next in line are the rhinoceros, giraffes, then water buffalo. Even the crocs in the waterhole do not mess with the elephants, though they may take a buffalo calf, or baby giraffe if they get the chance. Then come the zebra and gazelles and other animals with the smallest animals getting to drink last. By this time the waterhole make be churned into a thick soup of mud, urine, water and feces leaving little for the small and weak, which are the targets of the crocs, lions and other predators. Survival of the fittest, and strongest may be a necessary species survival strategy in nature, but in social settings or in modern society, it creates strife, resentment, anger, hatred, and discord.

The particular prison I have my ministry at is the Federal Super-Max facility where they house the death-row inmates. Security is very tight there and even though the lives of those men is extremely controlled, still they revert to what they know, Jungle Law. But when an inmate creates a problem, the whole facility is placed in lock-down for a week or more. What affects one affects them all. This is also exactly what happens in Nature.

Jungle law thrives on bullies and social outcasts who feel they are above the laws of society. Mankind perceiving ourselves above nature and everything else on the earth, has raped and pillaged the earth as we sought to dominate and control nature. But in the end, nature always wins. Our ancestors understood the importance of living WITH nature rather than against nature. They lived in harmony with the land and their environment. They understood what affects one affects everything around them. They understood that they could not conquer nature, so they lived in harmony with nature. This is a lesson we as a species are just recently relearning. What affects one affects all. This includes the trash people toss out of their vehicles as they cruise down the roadways. The trash people toss in the lakes, rivers and streams, and even the garbage and trash that now fills our oceans. Toss a cigarette butt out of the window and it may cause a forest fire affecting millions. What affects one affects us all.

The way of peace is working together harmoniously. The way to strife is Jungle Law. What sort of life would you prefer?