Posted on 9/12/2001

Sir Peter Blake

The murder of UN environmental ambassador Sir Peter Blake has affected New
Zealanders with a sense of shock, sympathy and touches us with not a little
fear. This death, felt most keenly by his family and friends, is more than
a personal tragedy, it is a symptom of the dire circumstances the waters,
forests and soils of this earth are in and the murderous response taken by
many people to that condition.

The Amazon region is Natura Naturans, Nature with a capital N. The deaths
of so many who have been affected by that region has now reached over the
Pacific which Peter Blake sailed on to glory, and affected his home
country. The out of control human impact on Nature is never so dramatically
demonstrated as in the Amazon, something which Peter Blake was probably
reacting to in his presence there.

We can hope that Sir Peter's death, like his life, will stir the hearts of
millions to transcend base urges and achieve our higher nature.