English Knows It Too

We are from the Earth.  We are of the Earth.

And, the English language knows it too.

Every so often I become involved in a conversation about how we are part of the Earth.  In some of those conversations I hear a comment about how indigenous languages often use the same word for ‘people’ as for the ‘earth,’ or similar.

So does English.

The word human and the word humus are directly related.  Humus, of course, being the dark, organic, component of soil, of the earth.  Humus is produced by the decomposition of plant or animal matter, and is essential for soil fertility.

The word itself comes from its Proto-Indo-European root dhghem, meaning earth.

That is the same root word that gives us human. 

So, there we are (humans) right there in the English language being directly related to the earth.

Dhghem is, not surprisingly, also the root of the word Homo that forms part of who we are – Homo Sapiens.

We are related to the Earth.  We are of the Earth.  We come from the Earth.

Perhaps, as we think about that, we might consider another word that derives from dhghem, and is bound up in human and humus – humble.

Yes, perhaps, it is time we took a humble approach to our association with the Earth. 

When we act with humility (the practice of being humble) then we act with courteous respect.

The Earth is deserving of no less than our courteous respect, no less deserving of our humility.  And, in mutual reciprocity, we are no less deserving of the Earth recognising us as humans.

Let’s act as if we deserved that recognition.