Sister Earth

Wild Journeying Way

In Wild Journeying Way, Alan Drengson discusses the benefits of meditative walking in wilderness, as experienced by him after decades of the practice, and as reflected in wilderness literature.

Both the walker and the wilderness benefit—the walker benefits by getting in touch with her inner nature, from which flow health and vitality, and the wilderness benefits from the protection of the walker, who has become a lover of wilderness.

To see Nature as it is depends on access to wilderness and to our own inner wild nature. Identity, awareness and place are networks of reciprocal relationships. When we are ecologically aware, we know that we need wild places in Nature to help us realize our wholesome wild energies.

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Wave of Grief

A lot of people have been asking how God could have let something like last week's tsunami happen. Perhaps it is my scientific upbringing, or perhaps I just haven't been with God long enough, but this sort of question never occurs to me. God has given us free will, but I also believe God has given the universe it's own kind of free will—the freedom to function according to it's nature, according to the laws of matter and energy. I don't believe that God would interfere with an undersea earthquake any more than with the most inconsequential human decision. But God has not left us defenseless against what we call "Acts of God." The natural world God created is also here to help us, if we would only accept its wisdom.

The South Asian tsunami has been described as one of the worst natural disasters in history. But how natural is the disaster? The shores that received those seismic sea waves, like most populated areas on Earth, barely resemble their original form. Two strong natural breakwaters—coral reefs and intertidal mangrove forests—have been eliminated over most of the South Asian shoreline. An exploding population coupled with increased technological power and pressure from foreign economic interests has resulted in widespread destruction of these incredibly diverse, productive, and protective ecosystems. Shrimp farms and tourist resorts have proven to be no defense against either the sea or the forces of poverty.

Leopold's Land Ethic

A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.

From the essay "Land Ethic" in A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold.

Ecosophy A to Z (or at least W)

My favourite course during my undergraduate education was Philosophy and the Environment, taught by philosopher and proud Norwegian-Canadian Alan Drengson. Dr. Drengson lectured in the long, complicated sentences that are apparently the norm (and no doubt necessary) in the discipline of philosophy, so it was nearly impossible to take notes. But I didn't need to take notes. Everything he said harmonized with my thinking on the environment, and put words and names to many things that I had only felt. What he taught was personally meaningful to me—he told me exactly what I wanted to know. The classes were a pleasure, and the exams were an opportunity to organize my thoughts and feelings about Nature. And let's just say that the final result was good for my GPA.

What follows are some of the words and names I learned in that course that enabled me to speak about the relationships between humans and Nature. Don't worry—there won't be a test later!