Earth Day

Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.
John Muir

I remember when my husband taught his Church School class about John Muir. Unusual in a church probably. We so often "stay" with the ancients, not to take anything away from them. But here was a man who called us to see, hear, participate in, and be responsible for, the great Earth we are part of.

Wednesday I spent the day in the Atrium of Constitution Hall, a state office building in downtown Lansing, where my good friend and I "wo-manned" a display for Fenner Nature Center.

Every inch of wall and window space was wall-papered with kids' Earth Day posters. Hundreds of square feet, both inside and out, were filled with displays. All day long kids, mostly late elementary and middle school, from mid-Michigan, came past our tables, touching (sometimes reluctantly) the raccoon and fox hides, asking countless questions, mostly, "What is that?" They were fascinated by the large turtle shell, seeing the spinal column lining the under side.

But they were most taken by a simple milk bottle ring and a photograph. Why? Because the photo showed the ugly result when a small turtle crawled into such a ring and couldn't extract itself. Thus this turtle grew around the ring as it was strangulated by the unyielding plastic. The kids frequently gasped or said, "Oh, how sad." At which point, one of us or another adult reminded them that any littering can endanger the critters. I think many of them will remember this simple lesson.

On and on they came: public schools, parochial schools, charter schools, home schools. Kids of every race, color and creed. By 3 p.m. we were exhausted and yet so stimulated by the kids, plus the outpouring of effort by so many to provide them with a huge display of ways to better understand and take care of "this fragile Earth, our island home." (from The Book of Common Prayer)

Wherever you are, I hope you can participate with your part of Earth--listening, looking, smelling, tasting and touching. What a glorious heritage. Let our gratitude overflow into deeper and deeper commitment to its survival.