Teaching a Stone to Talk

Through this essay, Annie Dillard wonderfully communicates the crisis humankind has driven upon the world. Our selfishness has leaded us not only to disregard God’s blessings, but to destroy the land He has so graciously provided for us. Humans build over nature, but are unable to build what is of worth since it’s utterly abstract. This involves all the Earth has to say; hence the title, “Teaching a Stone to Talk”. In the past we considered everything of holiness, but we have released that concept and therefore, the holiness to ourselves. In that sense, we have turned a blind side to God and in response; He’s taken speech from nature. Nature does have something to say, so much, but it’s contained due to human disregard. As Dillard says: “you feel the world’s world as a tension, a hum, a single chorused note everywhere the same”. The sounds are trapped within their beauty, and we’re missing out on a great opportunity to learn about them, about the true value of life. Rather than listen, we’re always in action. Hence, Dillard concludes that if she’d be born again, she’d like to reincarnate into a “palo santo” tree off the coast of the Galapagos. These holy trees she’d never noticed before, blocked by the sight of the sea lions playing. But Dillad noticed that being in constant action, moving from one thing to the next, is not the essential. Instead, being still and able to aspire to the splendor that occurs before our eyes is what makes us reflective people.