Loretto Earth Network News Divest/Reinvest/Commit Spring 2014
Vol. 22, No. 2
Those International Reports on Climate Change By Maureen Fiedler SL
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couple weeks ago, I did an interview on the violent clashes taking place between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. I’ve long since learned that so-called “religious wars” are usually thinly camouflaged economic wars. But one of my guests startled me when I asked him about the underlying causes, and he said “climate change.” Climate change a cause of war today? I know that many analysts have said that it is a possibility in the future once conditions on our planet worsen, but today? Yes, he said. Northern Nigeria, close to the Sahel, is warming. Traditional grazing lands are drying up. The largely Muslim herders are taking their herds to the more fertile farmlands of the south, and Southern Nigerians tend to be Christian farmers. Thus, the clash. This is the kind of future scenario (and worse) that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is trying to warn us about today. It’s a good idea to become acquainted with its findings. And it’s possible to do that without being a climate scientist. IPCC has a comprehensive web site which includes press releases and summary statements: http://www. ipcc.ch/ There have been times when my eyes glazed over at the thought of reading even the report summaries, but I have discovered they are eminently readable. And the future of our planet is wrapped up in what these reports say. They are, after all, prepared by the leading climate scientists of the world. For example, in the latest report issued in April 2014, the Panel had
both alarming messages and positive messages that change is within our grasp. All of these reports assume, of course, that excess greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are the chief cause of climate change. On the alarming side, the April report said that, “global emissions of greenhouse gases have risen to unprecedented levels despite a growing number of policies to reduce climate change. Emissions grew more quickly between 2000-2010, than in each of the three previous decades.” Gulp! On the hopeful, but realistic side, the report says that limiting emissions of greenhouse gases is possible, “using a wide array of technological measures and changes in behavior to limit the increase in global mean temperature to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. However, only major institutional and technological change will give a better than even chance that global warming will not exceed this threshold.” As you probably know, it is vital for life on Earth as we know it to keep the global mean temperature from rising more than two degrees Celsius. From a practical standpoint, the change called for means that, “Stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere requires emissions reductions from energy production and use, transport, buildings, industry, land use, and human settlements.” Solar or wind power, anyone? Public transportation? Not surprisingly, the report emphasizes the importance of trees
and forests. “Slowing deforestation and planting forests have stopped or even reversed the increase in emissions from land use.” Three cheers for the tree planting at the Motherhouse! But then comes the understatement of the year--something we all know, but can find frustrating: the whole world has to come together to do this. However, we in Loretto might think of it this way: there is probably no better argument for peace in the world than our common need to reverse the effects of climate change. If it doesn’t happen, violence will increase (just as in Nigeria), and we all lose. As the report says, “International cooperation is key for achieving mitigation goals.” But, it continues, “Putting in place the international institutions needed for cooperation is a challenge in itself.” The next international climate negotiations are scheduled for Paris, France, in 2015. Between now and then, we can contact our own government and make clear that global reduction of greenhouse gases is essential for the future of life on Earth, and urge serious and farreaching negotiations. It is an action for peace and for the planet; they are one and the same. Just ask the Nigerians. To hear the full interview the war in Nigeria, go to: http://interfaithradio. org/Story_Details/Christian_Muslim_ Violence_in_Nigeria.
EARTH LEADER By Dorie Kincaide SL
Editor’s Note Mary Ann Coyle SL
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nce in conversation with a person well versed in newsletter editing, I learned that it was important to leave what was then called “white” space so that one’s eye could have a rest from the copy. Today it might be necessary to leave a little space so that readers might raise their eyes from whatever devices consume them at the moment. Having said that, I feel I must start this short column with an apology. The issue is more crowded than I would like it to be but I was faced with a dilemma! Everything individuals wrote for the newsletter was important for us to read and ponder. Our lead article on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is truly alarming. Are we able to adjust our lives to meet the challenges Maureen Fiedler puts out there? In the last LENNews, we brought you Part 1 of the article written by Peter G. Brown on the Anthropocene. This issue brings you the conclusion of his article. He leaves us with an interesting challenge. In essence he says: Can we justify our own use of precious resources morally? Can we continue our consumption of natural resources in light of our own lifestyles? Can we bring these thoughts into our conversations in neighborhood settings, in our work communities and into book clubs or bridge clubs? What are your thoughts? When I think of a cross section of humankind I think of how different people are and what a blessing it is. We have cultural variety, racial differences, languages preferred and different jobs that grab our interest. We are living in an age that calls for imagination, knowledge, speaking truth to power, thinking deeply and praying in our chosen ways that Earth will survive our human exploitation of nature and wildlife. The LENNews copy before you (whether it is electronic or paper) shares the imaginings of Lynette Marie Hanthorn as well as the wonderings of Libby Comeaux, Dorie Kincaide, Dekila Chungyalpa and Chris Schimmoeller. Martha Alderson reported on Chris Schimmoeller for our newsletter. Finally, Karen Cassidy provides snatches of her pilgrimage to Germany “In the Footsteps of Hildegard.” Karen is willing to share her complete account of the pilgrimage with those who are interested. I would recommend it to you as a model journal if you are heading out for an actual journey or taking a virtual journey. Karen believes that St. Hildegard’s concept of Viriditas (Greenness) can be called the underlying divine vitality that serves as a life force within all creation. This greenness is the very expression of Divine Power on Earth. It is always a treat to hear from you, our readers. You might even like to write a short article for the newsletter.
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inter weather has been a record breaker this year not only across the United States but also across the world. Those of us who have not been personally affected by blizzards, tornados, floods, and dangerous roads are drawn into the weather drama via our television. Today we all live in great uncertainty about what the future holds in terms of the weather. In China towns experience days of dangerous smog and citizens wear masks to aid breathing. Cancer rates are increasing dramatically in areas of the U.S. where fracking takes place and where water and air are contaminated by corporate waste disposal. The concern about our food supply being more and more artificially produced is a real one. The dream of sustainable balance among people, animals and plant life seems almost impossible when we are faced with a lack of appreciation and compassion for all that constitutes our worldly home. In April we once again celebrate Earth Day. This one-day-a-year event was instituted to give us a pause in our daily routine to think about that entity called Earth that enables us to live. A balanced Earth is needed to enable it to promote the healthy environment that all species need. All species have a right to exist, be respected and be enabled to thrive because we equally need one another. There is a need today for leaders who are not daunted by the grim realities facing Mother Earth. Often it is said that the problems are too complex, the power of the corporate establishment too strong and the indifference of the populace too deadening to make it possible to save our world. So, the old statement takes form once again: eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we will die. Even in the face of doomsday theories, there is an intrinsic thrust within our higher selves toward doing the noblest thing for the highest good. Saving Earth fits that description.
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Democracy in the Anthropocene Part 2 By Peter G. Brown
M Many of us look for a leader to do the necessary work to change a bad situation. However, the deeper truth is that each of us is on Earth to save the whole, because if not there is no reason for us being here. Merely saving our own necks won’t work. “No [one] is an island.” In view of this truth another way of thinking becomes possible; we are ALL leaders and TOGETHER we can accomplish what could never be accomplished individually. So there exists in the air today a call to become Earth Leaders. And a leader can be defined as one who sees a job that needs to be done and does it without having to be told. A leader takes responsibility and does what he/she CAN DO no matter how small it may seem in light of the big picture. We ALL can be these kinds of leaders and this attitude can clean up highways of beer bottles and beautify Earth. Or these kinds of leaders may speak truth to power and thus stop powerful corporations from spreading contamination thereby saving all life on Earth. Earth Day says to us: Get serious about being dedicated leaders who will do whatever is needed to save the world which nourishes us so completely. Create your own private promises to Mother Earth or design a venue to make your promises public or use the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE given below. I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE EARTH, THE SUN, THE SKY AND THE STARS, AND TO THE UNIVERSE FROM WHERE WE CAME, OUR SOURCE, UNNAMEABLE, WITH MYSTERY AND MIRACLES FOR ALL.
embership: Recognition that we share heritage and destiny with all other people and all other life on this planet, as well as recognition of the dependence of life on physical, chemical, and biological evolution, must lead us to expand the moral community to include all persons and all life. Democratic deliberation and legislation must not deny or ignore this; otherwise, democracy will be fatally flawed and will not serve the ecological and social imperatives of the Anthropocene. The attitude of domination of the world and its peoples must be replaced with respect and reciprocity toward all that is. Humans are essentially relational. Individualism must give way to holism. We are members of, not masters over, life’s commonwealth. Historically, a version of that insight and attitude has been a modest branch in rethinking liberalism within the legacy of Leopold, but it has not gained much of a toehold in the rush for more consumption. All persons in all cultures have equal moral claims to flourish, constrained and enhanced by the claims of other species for their place in the sun. We are not the chosen species or the chosen people. This, if you like, is a new emancipation—it is an emancipation from false claims of privilege. Householding: When humans see themselves intrinsically as members of communities, then care for those communities is simply an expression of who we are and what we do. The world is not a collection of sources for satisfying our desires and a place to dispose of the waste stream inevitably created by those satisfactions. Rather, it should be considered a commonwealth where all species interact with each other and the planet’s biophysical systems in a manner that facilitates the thriving of life. Ultimately, we are obligated to enable, within our limited capacities, this thriving to continue on its metaphysical journey into novelty. The idea of the Earth as a collection of resources and waste receptacles must give way to that of the Earth as life’s household (oikos). Entropic Thrift: Low-entropy stocks and flows and the sinks for high-entropy waste must be used judiciously and with respect. Like all other far-from-equilibrium systems, our lives depend on low entropy—a fundamental good that underlies all other “goods.” Low entropy is a key feature of the Earth’s capacity to support flourishing
human and natural communities—it makes all life possible. It enables the far-fromequilibrium, autocatalytic living organisms like us to exist and thrive. Wasting that which makes life itself possible is a fundamental moral wrong. The Earth’s limited capacity to construct and maintain far-from-equilibrium systems implies strong moral limits to human appropriation of low-entropy energy and material and of sinks for human waste. There are both intergenerational and interspecies limits to the just use Earth’s sources and sinks. The implications of this re-envisioning our place in the world could not be more far-reaching. Once sinks have become saturated, as the global carbon sink has, burning fossil fuels harms and often kills other people. It increases droughts; it takes food from the mouths of those who are already at the edge of starvation; it adds to the sea-level rise, flooding farmland and contaminating aquifers; it increases the frequency of massive storms, which swamp the infrastructure far and wide. In a word, it directly violates the golden rule. Climate change is a major factor in the destruction of the web of life: imagine the bird seeking her nest in the swamp only to find it a dry and lifeless place; or the terminus of the long flight to the sub-arctic only to find the insects on which her life depends have already hatched and departed. Can we possibly justify our winter vacation on the beach in Mexico when it takes life from man and beast alike as its price? Could “liberty” possibly mean that those whose cup runneth over can justly take from those with no cup at all? How is “responsible” liberty to be defined, and where is it to be found? This is likely to be the most profound challenge that democratic theory and practice have ever faced. Peter G. Brown is a professor in the School of Environment at McGill University in Montreal. His primary interests revolve around issues combining ethics, governance, and protection of the environment. To learn more about his thinking, you might check out his 2013 book: Right Relationship: Building a Whole Earth Economy.
Reprinted in two parts with permission from the Center for Humans and Nature. www.humansandnature.org Part One in the Winter issue of LENNews
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The Way of Hildegard By Karen Cassidy CoL
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n September 2013, I joined 30 other Spiritual Directors on a pilgrimage to Germany, “In the Footsteps of Hildegard.” There has been a lot of hype about Hildegard these days. She was canonized a saint in May 2013 and made a Doctor of the Church on October 7, 2013. Who was this woman? She was full of energy, ingenuity, creativity and courage. Today she is known for her visionary illustrations and her music. She was also a prophetess, poet, preacher, scientist, scholar, herbalist, moralist and counselor to kings and church leaders. She developed a language for her sisters to use in the monastery (Lingua Ignola, Unknown Language). A healer of body and soul, she was profoundly outspoken, honest and inquisitive about the wonders of creation. She asked questions about the world, the human body, virtuous living, the Church and women’s role, faith and the cosmos. She coined a word, Viriditas, which means the “greening power of God” or “the fundamental life force.” We pilgrims were like strangers learning the land and landscape. We accepted the wisdom of Hildegard, remembering her in the places that
were important in her life. We kept the rhythms of the Benedictine Rule, pausing and praying at the four hinges of the day: dawn, day, dusk and dark. We practiced Lectio Divina, movement, music, mandala making and writing. A small hotel in Bad Sobernheim was our monastery during the journey. This is where mud baths are a specialty in warm weather. We did not travel more than 200 miles from our monastery. The landscape was lush and included a vineyard, orchard, golf course and lots of walking paths. Our path took us to the former Benedictine monastery high on a hill, where Hildegard began monastic life and spent most of the first half of her life. In 1136, she became abbess and began publicizing her visions. We journeyed up the winding path, stopping at stations, reading prayers and reflecting. We then journeyed to Worms, a nearby village that was a Jewish community during Hildegard’s life. Hildegard was influenced by the Jewish culture during these medieval times. One of her Illuminations illustrates a female rabbi nurturing the 12 tribes of David in her arms. Today on this site there is a museum and cemetery. Around 1150, Hildegard with 20 of her sisters founded their own monastery, Rupertsberg Abbey. All that is left of this monastery is a five-room crypt. Between 1151 and 1161, Hildegard wrote her two guides on medicine and natural history, known in English as Book of Simple Medicine and Book of Composed Medicine. The former, an encyclopedic work, describes the characteristics of elements, mammals,
reptiles, fish, birds, trees, plants, (including 200 herbs), metals, precious stones and jewels. The latter catalogs 47 diseases according to causes, symptoms and treatments. The monastery had a large herb garden. Here, Hildegard prepared medicines to treat members of her order as well as people from the surrounding countryside. She believed that God transmits life into plants, animals and gems. People eat plants and animals and acquire gems. In turn, people give life out by practicing virtue. We continued our pilgrimage to the Rochus Chapel to view the altar dedicated to St. Hildegard with a small shrine of her relics. We next journeyed on the Rhine River. In Hildegard’s time, the Rhine was like modern day Main Street. We sailed past vineyards and cliffs, castles and ancient churches and charming colorful villages. Picture Hildegard traveling on a boat to one of her preaching gigs in her later life. She challenges us today to consider ways that contemplative practices can give voice to our own sacred visions for our world. On September 17, Hildegard’s feast day, we gathered with the local community of Bingen for a procession of Hildegard’s relics. What a glorious day to celebrate for the first time in history an inspirational woman as both a Saint and a Doctor of the Church! The procession went through the windy narrow streets, with the clergy leading, the reliquary carried by men in black suits and white gloves,
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followed by the Benedictine Sisters of St. Hildegard Abbey, then the rest of the crowd. Following the procession, we gathered for sung Vespers by the nuns, and then a party in the rose garden with Riesling from the monastery vineyards. Sr. Ansilla, one of the 50 nuns who live here shared stories of Hildegard’s canonization and graciously answered questions. She responded to one question, “We only have two new novices. Young people who come, whether they stay or not, have their own mystery with the Lord. It is not said that the Order will last until Judgment Day. The Holy Spirit is much too creative and will allow other branches to grow.”
Faith and Conservation: Pooling together By Dekila Chungyalpa
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Hildegard was not formally educated, but she desired to record her visions. She relied on secretaries to transcribe them. She was a prolific writer on herbal medicine, the natural world, philosophy and a composer of beautiful chants. At about 42, she undertook a series of paintings of her visions and oversaw their production. She created a drawing in Scivias of her defining vision, in which the great span of the universe revealed itself to her as “round and shadowy—pointed at the top, like an egg—its outermost layer of a bright fire.”
n 2011, I stepped on a path that I could never have foreseen. I convinced the World Wildlife Fund to invest in a three-year program that would let me build the capacity of faith leaders in priority conservation areas in the Amazon, East Africa, the Himalayas, the Mekong and the United States. Prior to that, I worked on community-based conservation in the Himalayas and climate change and hydropower issues in the Mekong region. Often, in the projects I worked on, I found that faith leaders were the backbone of their society just as they were in mine. I come from a small mountainous state called Sikkim in India where taking important decisions to senior Buddhist monks for divination is considered normal. The influence of our faith leaders extends all across the fragile landscape of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Over ten years of working on conservation in Asia, I saw the mounting evidence and became convinced that working collectively with faith leaders could help us overcome many of the threats to nature and wildlife. And so, the Sacred Earth initiative was born.
I believe that St. Hildegard’s concept of Viriditas was the initial ecology movement. Throughout her life she continued to describe this power as the agent of God, the divine vitality that was a life force within all creation. This Greenness is the very expression of Divine Power on Earth.
We know that Earth is in peril. We see it on the news, in advertisements and in person. We watch Earth’s amazing creatures, its ecosystems and its ecological functions decline at alarming rates. We feel helpless witnessing climate change-related disasters that disrupt and destroy hundreds of millions of lives all over the world. This breakdown is in direct correlation with rampant economic growth and the unending demand for natural resources. It isn’t that we are uncaring; we are simply overwhelmed by our individual smallness given the gravity of the situation. We have our hands full taking care of our families, trying to overcome the socio-economic barriers we face and trying to sew together disintegrating social safety nets. So, how do we as individuals redirect the relentless
course of economic growth towards sustainability? We pool together: Over 80 percent of people in the world follow a spiritual faith; there are at least 2 billion Christians worldwide, 1.34 billion Muslims, over 950 million Hindus and at least 50 million Daoists. In terms of numbers alone, faith leaders are an enormously influential stakeholder group. At the same time, there is no better advocate for leading the debate on the purpose of human existence and calling for equality on behalf of those who are marginalized and threatened. If we are to create lasting change for conservation and protection of nature, we must find ways so that people transform the way they think and what they value. Asking faith leaders to be the champions of wildlife, to become ambassadors for nature and to protect all life on Earth, and receiving a positive answer every single time, has given me new hope. On a recent trip to Thailand, I was given a print of the Karaniya Metta Sutta, Buddha’s discourse on Loving Kindness. One section of it says: May creatures all be of a blissful heart. Whatever breathing beings they may be, No matter whether they are frail or firm, With none excepted, be they long or big Or middle-sized, or be they short or small Or thick, as well as those seen or unseen, Or whether they are dwelling far or near, Existing or yet seeking to exist, May creatures all be of a blissful heart.
Compassion is an essential tenet in all world religions, and all creatures—no matter how great or small—are blessed by the giving and the receiving of it.
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Fall Migration Revisited in Spring By Libby Comeaux CoL
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very fall migration, like travelling birds, the faithful flock to Bioneers. You’ve heard the byline on the public radio show: It’s all alive! It’s all connected! It’s all relatives! Nature, in a word, is it at the Bioneers. Last fall, I had the privilege of joining the eclectic array of migrants from the youth movement, indigenous wisdom, women’s leadership, biomimicry, environmental justice, green solidarity economies, climate sanity, rights of water, public health, local food, renewable energy and more. Here is a small sample of many energizing encounters. Janine Benyus incubated Biomimicry at the annual “fall migrations” – in fact, that’s her metaphor. She leads the inquiry, “What Would Nature Do?” in organizations and design teams. Go to www.asknature.org to discover how nature’s ancestral wisdom may have already solved a problem you face. For example, bull trout save energy by swimming in schools in certain patterns relative to each other. Learning from them, John Dabiri designs upright cylindrical wind turbines and arranges them in similar patterns to generate energy more elegantly. Jason McLennon, founder of International Living Building Institute, described the six-story office building in downtown Seattle that mimics a tree. The Bullet Center runs entirely on sunlight, breathes in and out, receives its water from the sky, is made of all natural materials, processes its own waste, provides a living home to creatures and a beauty to the neighborhood. Meanwhile, Utah biology professor Nalini Nadkarni shares with faith communities the 328 references to trees and forests she has found in scripture. Her belief “that truth may be found in trees” nourishes her students as well as the inmates
she serves through her Sustainable Prisons Project. In faith communities worldwide, Dekila Chungyalpa prays and motivates (see article pg 5).
I first met Navajo Wahleah Johns of the Black Mesa Water Coalition in 2008. She and her colleagues were tackling environmental devastation from local coal mining while strategizing with the Indigenous Environmental Network on Alberta tarsands. She had a baby on her hip. I had no idea she had met her match in Billy Parish. Parish gave tribute to their love story and described their vision of transforming Peabody coal fields into Navajo-owned solar fields and windmills. He noted the 2011 research by Mark Jacobson of Stanford and Mark Delucchi of UC Davis that proved no technological or economic barrier exists to powering the world with wind, sun and water. But we need to speed it up. At current rates of investment, it will take 400 years to transform the world to renewable energy. Parish is doing his part by jump starting investments that can begin with a $25 share. He’s garnered more than $5 million for solar projects investors can select in their own regions, earning 5-7%. The first offerings posted in January 2013 sold out in 24 hours through his website www.joinmosaic.com. And by the way, as Lynn Twist noted in a breakout session, 85% of the purchasing power in the US is in the hands of women – that’s a lot of
investment power! Another highlight was Atossa Soltani of Amazon Watch, who brought representatives from Ecuador. Babes on their hips, they trekked 300 miles from the headwaters of the Amazon to the government in Quito. Their message: “The forest is not for sale. The forest is life. We have to defend life.” Fast forward to April 16, and the Amazon Watch website reports: “Despite tremendous odds, supporters of a pioneering effort to keep Ecuador’s largest oil reserve permanently in the ground have gathered more than enough signatures to qualify for a national vote on the issue in a special election.” When Anishinaabe Winona LaDuke spoke at Bioneers 2007, she stumbled a bit: “I have a little trouble with the Bioneers word, it reminds me of Pioneers; that made me a little uncomfortable, just a little bit ... I don’t know if you want to be in that pioneer thing, maybe you want to be in the restoring relationship thing.” I imagine words like those were hard to hear. But over the years, a community has emerged that listens deeply to indigenous knowledge. We all seem to be learning to learn from Nature. Bioneers 25th Anniversary: October 17-19, 2014. Check website www.bioneers.org
Loretto Earth Network News
A publication of the Loretto Community
Editor: Mary Ann Coyle SL 3126 S Osceola Street Denver, CO 80236-2332
Email: macoyle303@comcast.net
www.lorettocommunity.org
Layout: Nancy Wittwer SL
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“O, Beautiful Gaia” Sets the Tone for LEN/LWN Winter Meeting By Martha Alderson CoL voting rights, Jerry brought with him a video showing the disastrous effects of mountaintop removal in Appalachia. This made clear that although most people do not see the actual mining that takes off tops of mountains to get to coal seams, these areas can be very close to homes. Jerry gave data of some of the effects in communities from this kind of mining, indeed of all coal mining, including more disease and birth defects, flooding and loosening of large boulders from weakened soil.
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ebruary 14-16, 2014, was a special weekend for our two Loretto Networks, the Loretto Earth Network (LEN) and the Loretto Women’s Network (LWN). The theme of the weekend event was Honoring Rural Kentucky Women. And certainly, there was no better place to do this than in rural Kentucky at Loretto Motherhouse. While the LEN coordinators planned the opening session, facilitated by Maureen McCormack, LWN continued the agenda through to the close at noon on February 16. We began the meeting with Carolyn McDade’s song “O, Beautiful Gaia,” led by Martha Fly. This brought us immediately into the spirit of honoring the Earth community. Our two networks have common purposes of resisting efforts of domination, whether of nature or people. The participants benefited from several videos. The first was of Chris Schimmoeller, president of Woods & Waters Land Trust. Her video began with the story of her mother and of her own childhood. Her mother grew up on Long Island in NY, where she found solace in a lone tree and dreamed of living in the woods. Chris’s family eventually moved to rural Kentucky. They have no electricity and no running water. Her young children are home schooled. Chris told a moving story of the time when she realized that being annoyed at the scratchy high grass she ran through was not helpful. She was actually one with the grass, that there was no separation between the grass and her legs. It was an awakening moment. A graduate of Georgetown College and a Fulbright Scholar (to India), she now works on issues of national forest protection, regional water supply, smart growth and many other matters that increase the understanding of the oneness of all life.
Chris receiving an award on Earth Day 2014 recognizing the land protection work of Woods & Waters Land Trust.
Following Schimmoeller’s video, Karen Cassidy introduced Kathy Wright and Susan Classen. Together they presented “An Energy Vision from the Heart of Kentucky’s Holy Land” featuring three religious communities in the region: the Loretto Community, the Dominican Sisters of Peace and the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. In part it reads, “We stand with all those who oppose the widespread risks to natural ecosystems and human wellbeing which is caused by the rush to achieve national ‘energy independence’ through the creation of vast infrastructures for the extraction, refinement, and combustion of more fossil fuels.” (The complete statement is on the Loretto website.) The next part of the program featured Jerry Hardt of Louisville. Jerry is communications director of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC). Having worked with KFTC for 30 years on issues of coal and water, economic justice, new energy and
Yet another video of a noted Kentuckian used was of an interview of poet and activist Wendell Berry by Bill Moyers. The interview took place at St. Catharine’s College. Berry has long been a proponent of respecting the land and drawing physical and emotional nurture from it. His poems have also nurtured many. One of the favorites is “The Peace of Wild Things,” from which he read in the interview. “When despair for the world grows in me … I come into the peace of wild things …for a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.” In 2011 he participated in a civil disobedience action in which he and others were locked in the Kentucky governor’s office asking for an end to mountaintop removal. He said in the interview with Moyers that it was “one of the loveliest weekends I’ve ever spent in my life.” He explained that he believes in leadership from the bottom. He spoke of the every day occurrence of “breathing God’s breath.” Karen Cassidy provided an astounding array of refreshments, which encouraged everyone to stay and visit. It was a full evening of impassioned discussion about caring for Earth, “Beautiful Gaia.” It was clear that Loretto Earth Network’s respect for our home is the highest priority as we go forward in ecological efforts.
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A Journey of Relationship By Lynette Marie Hanthorn, Local Food Shift Group
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t has been said that the art of farming is the cultivation of human beings, and a key indicator of wealth is one’s number of meaningful relationships. Yet who we are and how we relate within the larger context of Earth’s community of life has become distant and unfamiliar, creating a dilemma as the needs of the world become greater and more compelling, and the need for sharing of the world’s resources becomes more evident. How does humanity share resources and life wisdom when sense of place and relationships are void of meaning? I want to share with you a story of the future; it has yet to come into being. It is a story of restoration and healing in response to a planet that was asking for humanity’s attention. It is a story about a religious community utilizing their life strengths to leap forward showing the way to a reverence for life that is often invisible. Imagine, if you will, the Loretto Community where caring for God’s creation took on new meaning and an evolving purpose. “It was the summer of 2014,” reflected Mary Ann Coyle SL, “a time when the realities of economic growth and corporate greed clearly equated to environmental degradation and global poverty. It was a time when everyone discovered they were food insecure and our directive to Divest-Invest-Commit landed in our backyards, literally. There was great need for farmers and more local food production. What better way is there than caring for our Earth and for each other than by investing as if local food, farming and soil fertility mattered?” Recognizing their wealth of relationships and their experience of living in community, members of the Loretto Community took on reshaping their local economy. In Slow
Money style, where social return and engagement eclipses financial return, they embraced bringing money back to Earth. By practicing the principles of Slow Money, members created a living resource for investing in food and farming endeavors and gave new meaning to Earth literacy. “The Loretto Community invested, not for monetary profit, but to contribute and empower farmers and food producers,” said Libby Comeaux CoL. “More importantly, this became an avenue for developing strong personal relationships. It was beyond financial speculation, such that giving directed our resources and attention to something that was truly needed,” she said. “By working together to invest in the local food economy, we sharpened our financial abilities and cast a wave of inspiration on others beyond the Loretto Community to give. It’s been incredible!” exclaimed Comeaux. Loretto Community members and associated groups discovered again their shared value, meaning and abilities. From their perspective, it brought greater attention to their relationships with Earth’s community of life. As a community of faith with a commitment to be in harmony with nature, their investing process evolved into a system that was selforganizing, self-generating and selfbalancing. It was an example of the emergence of the universe or stages of a life cycle. Those aspects gave the Loretto Community an ever-present experience of aliveness. Coyle noted, “Considering that the
We are either going to have a future where women lead the way to make peace with Earth or we are not going to have a human future at all. —Vandana Shiva
Lynette Marie Hanthorn world’s needs are great, the members designated money for food and farming investing and it flowed like a river both in giving and receiving. Our relationship with money has expanded by demonstrating our connection to place and providing great meaning. Our lives are supported by more caring relationships.” A new economy suddenly emerged. Investment groups formed that provided low-to no interest loans, grants, emergency relief funds, education scholarships and land restoration awards. With labor needs met, farms producing nutrientrich produce flourished, free of indebtedness and fully embraced by others. A resurgence in farming and restorative agriculture surfaced. Surrounding communities were invited to participate and utilize these investment approaches. Money became “patient capital” that brought new life to interconnections. “Loretto investors” became “people of the land” determined to feed their local population with healthy food and share lives of meaning. It has been ten years since food production landed for the Loretto Community. The social return on their local investments provides meaningful relationships that extend beyond the borders of this nation. A new system for local food emerged. It all started here, in their backyard. Can this dream become reality? What are your thoughts?