Boo!

For thousands of years humans have anthropomorphized and even deified aspects of the natural world. Thunder, lightning, wind, and even volcanic activity were considered to have a personality and human characteristics. In our infancy as a species we sought to explain the forces of nature by attributing intent to these forces. That is to say nature itself, "mother nature".

Over the last few centuries science has explained how most of these natural forces behave and why. Yet our vocabulary still contains many references to our earlier superstitions and ignorance. The other day, in a news report about the recent volcanic activity in Hawaii, the phrase "wrath of nature" was used to characterize the eruption. It's a common phrase that indicates we still hold on to many of our past beliefs. Nature has no wrath. It's not even indifferent, which is another human trait. 

It might seem like a minor point to some, yet as long as we harbor any beliefs that our lives are influenced and controlled by forces beyond the laws of nature and the universe itself, we will remain incapable and unwilling to face the challenges and realities of a world which only we can understand, manage and preserve for the future.