The awareness came when a bed of perennials was being invaded by Japanese beetles. I immediately went into the kill mode and started squishing them between my fingers. Almost instantly the entire infestation took off as if the first few victims telepathically sent out the sense of danger message. For those left behind, I continued my quest to squish, but as my finger approached the next beetle, I watched it stand on its hind “legs” with its front “arms” reaching out to me as if pleading to stop me from killing it.

I was stunned. This little guy wanted to live. There are some of you who may find this story frivolous, but the image remains vivid in my mind, and I might add, my heart, and it had a lasting effect on me.

There isn’t a day that goes by without some reference to the inhumanity of our civilization. People hurting or killing other people. People hurting or killing animals. People hurting and killing our environment. This disregard for the preciousness and resplendence of all these living elements in our world makes no sense.

Isn’t there an innate awareness of compassion and reverence for all living things that are all connected and react to one another’s actions because of that connection? Apparently not.

We are born into this world and are immediately influenced, taught and molded into the lives representative of those who came before us. Most of our actions are in response to what has been told or shown to us as children. Most of the time, we aren’t even thinking about our actions that are subliminally occurring through the subconscious because of what our young selves have been taught.

Unfortunately, too many are misguided and not shown the importance or the necessity of treating our fellow humans, animals and the environment with the majesty they deserve. Thus, pain and suffering are the result.

This perhaps is a long way of suggesting we need to teach our children the importance of truly caring, with love and empathy, for all living things. Certainly the most impactful way of doing this is through our school system. Undoubtedly, there are parents who are teaching this to their children already, but clearly there is always more that can be learned.

For me, teaching our children why it is not a good idea to be cruel to other children or animals as well as the environment will have lasting impact. This early information will form a culture of awareness and compassion, and for a generation or two these children will take this awareness home to adults who still don’t see it. Then maybe there will be a time in our world where everyone will feel the love in their hearts for all of life.

So, how does this begin to take place? It starts with creating a curriculum that not only includes reading, writing, arithmetic and art but classes on awareness and compassion.

When discussing this with my friend Judy, she suggested that each child be given an animal, bug, bird or plant to observe. Watch how it moves, responds, eats and feels threatened if its life is exposed to potential danger. Maybe visit animal shelters and discuss the reality of why they exist and what unfortunate circumstance may have brought the animals there and why they would rather be in a loving home. Take frequent walks down a path through the woods surrounding yourself with the voices of Mother Nature. Plant a vegetable or flower garden where butterflies and hummingbirds interact with the plants and you, as you walk through their world. Write journals about these observations.

I’ve always said that animals, like humans, are sentient beings. I’ll even go so far as giving this same consciousness to Mother Nature as well. If a child is shown that everything has an intellect and feelings and when hurt or killed, it creates a response that reverberates through all of us. What will happen is a new perception involving all of life that may alter how this child grows into a conscientious adult.

So I call out to our teachers and educational systems to “teach your children well,” as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young sang: “You, who are on the road, must have a code that you can live by.”

Perhaps this code can simply be knowing how to care for life and the consequences resulting in not caring. It could change the world.