An Oasis Amidst The Catastrophe

Roughly 6 months ago I was asked to speak in Orange County California before an inter-faith alliance of clergy who care about God’s creation. Wednesday of this week was the day. With the national news speaking of disaster in the Gulf I found myself grappling with how to address yet another symbolic declaration from nature that the human family continues to find ways to compromise the gift of creation. I mentioned briefly that 1 quart of oil contaminates 250,000 gallons of water – and then let them do the math of a 7,000,000 gallon spill.

Prior to the talk I went to my files and found one of the first environmental talks I had given. Sure enough, it was typed on a manual typewriter, and presented to the Barstow School in Kansas on Nov. 6, 1970. I had given a talk on Earth Day, but have no record of it. That was the year of the 1st Earth Day, and this talk came a few weeks after the 40th Earth Day.

My own words from 1970 continue to stir my soul – “It is pointless discussing ecology if we see it as anything less than the most vital, most all inclusive issue or crisis that has ever befallen man.” (Now, being politically correct, and very appropriate for today - I would finish the sentence – “befallen the human and non-human families.’) I went on to add ‘our entire systems, our entire consciousness, most of our secular values must change.”

I then referenced a talk I had given in Orange Country three years earlier; some of whom had heard that offering. But, enough about the talk, I will leave that for perhaps another epistle, but I really want to talk about the audience.

The host organization was the Sikh Center of Santa Ana California. Sikhism is a world wide religion with its base in India and its spiritual center in Amritsar, Punjab. I had forgotten that my invitation was to be hosted by this wonderful community, and when I arrived I was initially emotionally overcome. I had never been in a Sikh center since I was in the Golden Temple, the most holy of shrines, in Amritsar in 1963. As a 20 year old I worked in rural India for four months, until a little food poisoning, dysentery and malaria struck me down, and forced me to return to the States. I worked directly with the Sikhs doing agricultural missionary work and to this day wear a Sikh bracelet given to me in June of 1963. It has never come off my wrist and symbolizes brother/sister hood in their religion. My talk was in the presence of three large pictures of the Golden Temple, and the smells wafting from the kitchen during my talk was what really took me back to the villages of the Punjab 47 years ago. As a 20 year old celebrating his 21st birthday with two cold Cokes, far away from loved ones and familiar surroundings, in a strange village, I can attest to the fact how the human family is indeed one family with just a bunch of little variations. This profound experience changed me forever and cemented for me the belief that all in God’s realm belong and are here for a reason; some day we may become wise enough to figure this all out.

But, enough about me, I want to share my feelings that what is happening in Orange County California should be a lesson for all. I spoke about the environment to clerics from the Sikh, Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions. Their inter-faith coalition represents a key answer to solving the collapsing of creation dilemma. Unless the model being developed there is copied throughout the globe we might as well begin to build our bunkers, shelters, islands, or whatever we deem feasible to escape the eventual outcome of letting creation slip through our fingers. But, we have hope if all religions put aside their petty differences; which often seem huge initially, but when compared to the big picture become insignificant. So what if I believe in Jesus, and my rabbi friend or Muslim or Sikh counterpart does not – we all believe in a creator God and a world worth preserving for future generations.

What an affirmation of what can be when clerics from all traditions sit down at table and break bread together. When they begin to speak as one, act as one, and rally around a theology that affirms creation, then we will begin to see the change needed.

Thank you Margaret Henke and Sherri Loveland for your patience and persistence with the clergy of Orange County – You have discovered the answer to building a sustainable future for generations - clergy who get the fact that there first responsibility is to the garden and all in the garden and who can put aside everything else will and must lead the environmental movement with their vision and commitment. Into the hands of Adam and Eve creation has been entrusted – as representatives of the people of God clergy are the ultimate protectors and restorers of our fragile island home. Thanks, your friend Peter

Drill Baby Drill

May 14, 2010

The earth is a living breathing self contained entity floating in the vast expanse of inter-stellar space. Since its formation billions of eons ago it has been subject to vast changes in climate as species came, disappeared, and re-appeared in different forms. Life as we know it since 10,000 years ago has been pretty stable. That’s a long stretch of time and the human family has been blessed with relatively minor changes that has enabled us to flourish to the tune of approximately 6.8 billion folks living here today.

Modern society, let’s say since the mid-1800’s, has come to rely on one of those elements that took millions of years to develop. Buried deep within the earth, and perhaps deep within the earth for a reason, reside billions of cubic feet of gas, coal and oil. Hard to get to, not easy to extract, modern technology has beaten back the barriers and we continue to mine these resources for the living planet we call home.

Just a thought here: What if the oil, gas, and coal were deep down for the reason of keeping the inner part of the planet in balance. We know the atmosphere, the ocean currents and wind patterns all must stay in balance, an equilibrium that regulates our planet. Maybe there is an inner balance as well. Water, the essential ingredient in all life, appears from deep with the earth on its own in the form of springs, rivers, and lakes, yet the triple threat to humankinds long term survival have to be ‘taken’ from the earth – perhaps the earth did not want them taken in the first place because of reasons we are not smart enough to fully understand. Water is given; we must preserve it. Oil, gas and coal is taken; oftentimes at the expense of lives, and the environment – maybe we should stop taking what is not rightfully ours and harness what is given – wind and sunlight.

Granted we have seen the development of culture based on utilizing C O G – coal –oil – gas. We are completely and utterly dependent on their extraction for our lifestyle. Yet, today, we sit in absolute terror that the spill in the Gulf may change the human family forever. The big if – if we can not contain the oil from seeping out at the rate we see today the oil will eventually contaminate the earth pond. Ocean is not a good word because it conjures in our minds the sense of limitlessness. A pond on the other hand is simply a body of water that has limits. The water in the ocean has no place to go and all the oceans connect with all the others – hence it is just a big pond.

Consider this: 1 qt. of oil will contaminate 250,000 gallons of water. 1 gallon of oil will contaminate 1 million gallons of water. Currently the oil is flowing into the Gulf of Mexico at the rate of 200,000 gallons a day. Thus, on each day of continued pollution the Gulf will have its waters contaminated at the rate of 2,000,000,000,000 gallons. That is a lot of water. Consider this: the City of Los Angeles uses 300,000 million gallons a day. I would imagine that the entire country does not use 2 trillion gallons of water a day, but that is what is being compromised daily.

Now that we have thrown away the precautionary principle believing that we can ‘drill baby drill’ whenever and wherever we want, we have discarded our ability to save ourselves from ourselves. Continuing to treat the gift of creation, our fragile planetary island home as something we control will result in the collapse of civilization as we know it.

Perhaps our human self-centeredness and feeling that we can manipulate the Earth to our desires is beginning to make mother Earth not function at her best. Spewing ash from volcano’s or oil from the sea is nothing new, but at this level, and at the risk of sounding critical, my guess is that we are somehow to blame. I know I am to blame for global warming and climate change, but now the stakes are getting higher and life as we know it may be challenged if this rupture, caused by man, is not arrested today!

Oil and Water Do Not Mix

May 7, 2010

Chernobyl sent contamination around the globe for the air currents know no geographic boundaries. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill will contaminate the entire globe, even if it is capped with an unknown technology, oil will continue to be dispersed because the oceans currents know no geographic boundaries. What we once called oceans are no more than big ponds for all salt water systems are inter-connected. Have you ever taken a pebble and thrown it into a body of water on a very still morning when the water resembles a mirror? What happens? That’s right the ripples continue across the entire surface until either out of sight or the ripples hit up against land. The oil of the Gulf may be here on our doorsteps as long as we may live, irrespective of where we might live.

In a visit with a concerned peer he exclaimed with toe tapping assurance that the words of the scientific community he is hearing about this human made blunder were beyond belief. “This is the end of civilization as we know it.” “This is the start of the end times.” He is neither religious, nor stupid, but a well read concerned citizen who has been around for 7 decades or so. If the well is capped the words will not resonate for very long as the amount of oil can be absorbed by nature’s natural corrective tendencies; albeit over a long time; however, if the oil continues unabated for let’s say a month or two, the consequences will be like nothing this planet has ever seen since modern civilization developed.

I have been in oil spills. The Malibu spill of a few years back prompted my visiting the clean up crew, camera in hand, and I snapped a few pictures of booms, guys in protective suits, and one guy with a white construction worker hat on with the Chevron logo proudly displayed. What a mess? One of my photographs was on the cover of The Palisadian Post. I have witnessed leaking fishing trawlers in the outer harbor of Wychmere on Cape Cod. There is always a smell, even from a few gallons leaked into a harbor. There is always residue on docks, boats, pilings, shellfish and anything in the way of the indiscriminate pollutant.

This issue of ‘drill baby drill’ so inappropriately declared by the likes of Sarah Palin has now illustrated the unintended consequences of man’s hubris. We think we can take that which is buried in the earth, perhaps deeply buried for a very good reason, and use it at our discretion. The answer for today is to stop using coal and oil to go to clean technologies immediately. We shifted into a wartime economy in the 1940’s over-night, now we must shift to a green economy over-night, or our children will be cleaning the pollutants from their lungs and bodies for the rest of their lives.

This is not a legacy any of us want to leave our children; and yes, we will have to sacrifice, maybe in suffer a little, but this is the American way when we all come together to make a difference.