We celebrate the 49th anniversary of Earth Day, an event observed in 192 countries with over a million participants.
Maggie and Darryl share their passion for protecting the earth and inspire us to care more deeply about our planet.
Homily Transcript
It is both our pleasure and honor to address you today on this 49th celebration of Earth Day. Earth Day was founded in the United States by Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin in 1970. It is now observed in 192 countries, and is the largest civic event across the world with over 1 million people participating in various cities. 1970 was also the year the Environmental Protection Agency was established.
Our intent this morning is to inspire you to care more deeply about our planet and to share with you our passion for protecting and preserving our planet Earth.
I grew up in the 70s when the Keep America Beautiful campaign was launched. There was a very popular commercial, some of you may remember, referred to as the “crying Indian.” This TV commercial depicted a Native American paddling his canoe by a huge industrial plant that was spewing toxic gases, then pulling his canoe ashore to find litter strewn about. He is pictured shedding a single tear. This was an effective commercial and impressed upon me that pollution was a significant problem.
Also in the 70s was there was the Oil Crisis during which I remember my parents having a hard time paying heating bills in the winter months. This again impressed on me the importance of protecting and preserving our planet’s natural resources.
One of my high school teachers established a club called the P.E.T. Project. This was an acronym for Protect the Environment of Tully–the rural community in which I grew up. Every Saturday we would join together at the town garage and collect recyclable newspapers and glass. We would separate the glass into brown, green or clear, put on our safety goggles, and hand crush it. Our teacher would bring soda and hot dogs to grill for lunch, and we bonded for a single cause–to protect and preserve the environment.
This experience embedded in me the value of doing something for the community and doing something for the Earth. In our senior year one of my girlfriends in the PET Projects painted a 12-foot high mural of the character Willman Marston’s superhero Wonder Woman inside the garage building were we gathered for P.E.T projects on Saturdays? This was a powerful image for me that strengthened my conviction that protecting and preserving the Earth was important and that I could make a difference as a woman.
I’m convinced that a person’s convictions motivate individual actions. I think that one has to have a deep belief that what he or she does has impact, no matter how small or simple the act. I believe that our Mother Earth needs us to preserve, protect and respect her. But my passion for the environment is rooted in the beauty I see every day.
When I awake in the morning, and before I retire in the evening, I take a look at the sky. I do this because I am deeply inspired by the vastness of the earth. I am continually in awe of the beauty and reflections of light in the sunrise and sunset, and the textures and shapes of clouds. I am mystified by the stars, moonlight, and the darkness of the night. When I walk barefoot on the morning grass I feel a connectedness to the earth, as the dew awakens my senses.
I have stood at the shores of the ocean and felt its power and pondered the diversity of marine life and I have walked through the woods and felt surrounded by the peaceful strength of trees. I am grateful for each new day, another rotation of the planet, and know that the planet is the single thing that connects all living beings. It is truly the “common ground“ we share with all of humanity, crossing cultural, socio-economic, ethnic, and religious divides. I believe that the earth needs our commitment to addressing climate change. There is power in believing that we can make a difference to protect, preserve, and heal the Earth.
This is illustrated by the Story of the Starfish that some of you may know. There are thousands of starfish washed upon the ocean’s shore. And there is a child taking one starfish at a time, and painstakingly tossing them back in the ocean. A man approaches the child and says “What are you doing? Don’t you see how many thousands of starfish there are on this beach? You can’t possibly make a difference!” The child picks up one starfish and tosses it back into the ocean and says “Well, I made a difference to that one!”
This story is an example of the power of an individual. My husband and I attended the Drawdown Workshop sponsored by the Church several months ago, and learned about four levels of action described by Will Grant for effecting positive environmental change.
The first level starts with the individual. The second level is action with friends and families. The third level is action with communities and local institutions (such as schools, churches, and municipalities). The fourth level is the state or national policy level–working with national government such as contacting your congressional representative. Will Grant states that the greatest impact we can make is at the third level of action –community. We are more effective together!
A marvelous local example of this is a news story that appeared in a recent edition of the Democrat and Chronicle about a group of volunteers south of here who collaborated to assist salamanders in crossing West Lake Road in Honeoye. There is an annual migration of spotted salamanders from the hills down to the lake in mid-March. The salamanders migrate to lay their eggs in the water. John Bateman has organized this event for the past 10 years
to help the salamanders make it across the highway without being run over by cars. This year they saved 4000 salamanders.
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We recently read of another account of people working together to save migrating salamanders in Central New York. The operation to help salamanders there is also an annual tradition. The account is written in a book by a woman named Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer. She is an ecologist and Indigenous American. At the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry she has been designated a Distinguished Teaching Professor, and been appointed as Director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment.
In her books and speaking engagements, Dr. Kimmerer shares how she is able to reconcile scientific thinking with what she calls the “indigenous wisdom” of her ancestors. She has given talks here at the nearby Ganondagan Center. She speaks comfortably and with sophistication about both science and Indigenous wisdom.
Our Western culture has reinforced a notion of human superiority by which we relegate the rest of creation—plants, animals, rivers, mountains, etc.—to the status of mere “resources,” with little moral consideration or respect. As we probably have learned, some other human societies—particularly indigenous or native cultures–hold more respectful views toward nature. Our Western cultural view has been that indigenous societies are “primitive,” unsophisticated, and ignorant to the extent that they honor the earth, animals, and plants.
Indigenous wisdom consists of principles and attitudes that have been held for centuries and even thousands of years by indigenous or native peoples. Among these principles (loosely described in my own words):
- Plants and animals, and other entities in creation are sovereign entities, not merely objects to be owned and exploited;
- Things we get from the plants, animals, rivers, and the land are not so much resources, but rather they are gifts;
- Every entity in creation has gifts to offer.
- Along with gifts comes responsibility, so that, for example, the birds have the gift of song, and also the duty to share their songs with the world.
- When we take or harvest things from the natural environment, we should ask permission, take only what we need, leave some for others, harvest in a way that minimizes harm, use gifts from nature respectfully, never waste, share, give thanks, and give a gift in reciprocity for what you have taken.
These principles may seem foreign to our Western, human-centered thinking and traditions. But by recognizing the dignity of other entities in the natural world (plants, animals, and even the land), and by including all of creation within our sphere of moral consideration, I suggest that our sense of wonder and appreciation for Divine Creation can grow, which can foster in us more reverence and joy, and enhance our faith.
The beloved Saint Francis of Assisi is well known for holding similar sentiments of respect for nature. In 1979, Pope John Paul II declared Saint Francis the Patron Saint of Ecology, and during World Environment Day in 1982, said that Saint Francis’ love and care for creation was a challenge for contemporary Catholics, and a reminder that we should assume responsibility for nature, “taking all care so that everything stays healthy and integrated, so as to offer a welcoming and friendly environment even to those who succeed us.” The same Pope wrote on World Day of Peace in 1990, that Saint Francis “offers Christians an example of genuine and deep respect for the integrity of creation …”
It is said that St. Francis believed that nature itself was the mirror of God, and he called all creatures his “brothers” and “sisters.” In his Canticle of the Creatures, he mentioned the “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon.”
I have to share an example of my own personal delights with the natural world: My daily encounter with songbirds in my back yard and other excursions. I count these little feathered beings as among my friends. On even the coldest of winter mornings, the cheerful presence of the little chick-a-dees, nuthatches, gold finches, and cardinals is a welcome reminder to me to be positive and thankful for a new day. It is so clear to me that they have personality and joy. I believe my wife shares this sentiment, as she is the one who makes sure there is enough bird seed on winter mornings.
My wife bought a little book some years back at the Ganondagan Center called the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address – Greetings to the Natural World. The book contains a series of separate thankful tributes to the different participants in nature, including but not limited to:
- The People, The Earth Mother, The Waters, The Fish, Plants, Animals, Winds, Sun, Grandmother Moon, and The Creator.
Haudenosaunee tradition teaches us that peace requires gratitude, and that we are to be thankful for the living world. Our relationship to the Earth is the basis of our sustenance and our peacefulness. Our Mother Earth connects us to a perpetual process of creation, and she continues to provide all we need to be happy and healthy.
We would like to finish by reciting several of the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving addresses. The addresses have a congregational refrain which we welcome you to join us in; the refrain is “Now our minds are one.”
The Trees
We now turn our thoughts to the Trees. The Earth has many families of Trees who have their own instructions and uses. Some provide us with shelter and shade, others with fruit, beauty and other useful things. Many people of the world use a Tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we greet and thank the Tree life.
Now our minds are one.
The Earth Mother
We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our mother, we send greetings and thanks.
Now our minds are one.
…and lastly…
The Creator
Now we turn our thoughts to the creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and thanks for all the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator.
Now our minds are one.
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