Spring has Sprung and So Has A Leak

May 21, 2010


Growing up in New England had many advantages, and a few challenges. Winter seemed to go on forever, yet the snow meant sledding down the hills of Short Hills, and the freezing temperatures signaled time to sharpen the skates for a bit of pick up hockey on South Pond. However, as the months dragged along spring was a time of the crocus popping through the hard ground and the forsythia beginning to bloom and our spirits were lifted. New birth, new smells, new energy – all seemed to be associated with spring in New Jersey and Connecticut. I miss the transition from winter to spring.

Around the globe millions of people look for the signs of new beginnings. War torn nations yearn for a time of peace. Countries ravaged by tsunamis or earthquakes awaken to each day with a huge weight on their shoulders. Environmental degradation signals fear for the future, and the signs of increasing global refugees on the move yearly means that fewer and fewer have a spring to anticipate.

….and now as spring moves into summer the hurricane season approaches and the oil spill dominates my thinking. A hurricane would push the oil throughout the gulf and miles of wetlands would be choked to death. Life as the gulf states know it would be altered forever because you can not clean up wetlands; period! Once again we await the movement of the oil into the Gulf Stream – hitting that climate regulating current might prove that our giant pond’s shorelines are not exempt and that the unintended consequences of our un-regulated hubris might be oil on Nantucket in the near future.

We got a clue to the un-intended consequences of lack of foresight by leaders when a fellow named Hosea wrote: “The land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; and even the fish of the sea are taken away.” This was written by the Old Testament prophet who saw the proverbial handwriting on the wall.

“The land mourns” - Haiti, Chili, Indonesia, Congo, USSR – to name a few places where the land has been so degraded by human and so-called natural disasters.

“…all who dwell in it languish” – the plight of the people in Haiti, the whole of the African Continent, the Amazonian basin dwellers; just to name a few who suffer no spring and no hope

“…and also the beasts of the field” - scientists warn of declining species, the loss of bio-diversity and the extinction potential of some of the great animals of creation – look at the African Elephant, the black rhino, the tiger, and the grand gorillas to name a few.

‘…and the birds of the air” – air pollution, chemical fertilization and pesticides, and habitat destruction, and illegal trade in endangered birds are limiting the freest most diverse and beautiful peaceful creatures on the planet.

‘…and even the fish of the sea are taken away.” - all major fish populations are in decline around the globe – from Georges Banks and the prolific cod to the brackish waters of the Amazon and the spawning giant bluefin the alarm has sounded. To lose the protein of the sea is to lose our fight for survival…and now the Gulf catastrophe…

Why do we hold such anger in our hearts towards creation, the gifts that sustain and nourish us, to let this happen? Maybe we need a little more resurrection power that comes through celebrating spring and working to make spring work for the rest of the world at the same time shifting our strategies so that tomorrow’s generations may have at least a fighting chance of a healthy life. Oil deep, yes very deep in the ground under the sea should be left alone for we humans are not smart enough to manage it when it gets loose from its millions of years home. As the saying goes; the cat is out of the bag, and it is our fault; now what do we do?