When I was in college, I attended a speech by Supreme Court Justice, William O. Douglas, who had written a book entitled My Wilderness. I had purchased the book and brought it with me and he graciously autographed it following his talk on "Democracy Versus Communism in Asia". In writing of Mt. Adams in Washington state, he says: "The struggle of our time is to maintain an economy of plenty and yet keep [one's] freedom in tact....If our wilderness areas are preserved, every person will have a better chance to maintain [their] freedom by allowing their idiosyncracies to flower under the influence of the wonders of the wilderness".
Then in seminary, I read The Singing Wilderness by Sigurd Olson, sage of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Quetico Provincial Park of Canada. He writes, "The singing wilderness....is concerned with the simple joys, the timelessness and perspective found in a way of life that is close to the past."
I love the wilderness. I have hiked the Cascades of central Washington and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, walked the rim walk in Canyonlands National Park in Utah, and canoed in the Quetico-Superior, most recently with our son, Steve, my brother-in-law, Erik, and his friend, Joe. In the wilderness are healing and wholeness. John Muir once wrote: "In God's wildness lies the hope of the world....The galling harness of civilization drops off, and the wounds heal ere we are aware".
In this week's New York Times, Thomas Friedman wrote an op-ed entitled "Can I Clean Your Clock?" It addresses the urgency of dealing with climate change and environmental issues. He says that unless the United States gets serious about inventing clean-power technologies, the Chinese will "clean our clocks" in leading the world in energy technologies. "You'll be buying your energy future from China" writes Friedman. Economically, this means fewer jobs for American workers, less money into our economy, and more dependence on an outside source to which we already owe a supertanker full of national debt.
I consider myself a global thinker. I support open markets and the sharing of resources. Recognizing and responding creatively and peacefully to the inter-dependency of cultures and economies is morally correct. Indeed, this action yields more justice and peace. Hence, the United States needs to do all we can to develop these critical resources for our sake and the sake of the world. We, as well as other nations, must take responsibility to do all that we can to care for the earth. We must challenge our creativity for the sake of the world. Our will for the sake of our nation and world must be loosed! As Bonhoeffer says: "We must take our share of responsibility for the shaping of the future". It is the Biblical call.
The internet magazine, Salon.com, carried an wrticle written by Arthur Max, entitled "Oxfam to G-8: Climate Change Will Spread Hunger". He says, "Chronic hunger may be 'the defining human tragedy of this century' as climate change causes growing seasons to shift, crops to fail, and storms and droughts to ravage fields...." Peter Sawtell of Eco-Ministries, in a recent commentary, shares a story told by Bill McKibben. Bill and others were invited to the White House for conversation on climate change. Members of the White House staff told the group: "Make us do it! Build the movement that gives us the room to do the things we want to do".
Wilderness. Energy technology. Hunger. A man named Thompson wrote: "You cannot disturb a flower without troubling a star". All things are connected. Time is short. Our will must be now. Write your congressperson, speak, act. Genesis says: "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion...." (Genesis 1:26a). To have dominion means to care for, to demonstrate justice, to create shalom. Let's do it!
Shalom!
Ron
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