Spirit in Action
Earth Day 2005
I have no hands but yours to tend my sheep. No handkerchief but yours to dry the eyes of those who weep. I have no arms but yours with which to hold. The ones grown weary from this struggle and weak from growing old. I have no hands but yours with which to see. To let my children know that I am out and out is everything. I have no way to feed the hungry souls. No clothes to give and make you the ragged and the morn. So be my heart, my hand, my tongue, through you and will be done. The enders have my none to help and die. The tangle knocks and twists to chase the strength of your full minds. Welcome to Spirit in Action. My name is Mark Helpsmeet. Each week I'll be bringing you stories of people living lives of fruitful service, of peace, community, compassion, creative action and progressive efforts. I'll be tracing the spiritual roots that support and nourish them in their service. Above all, I'll seek out light, love and helping hands, being shared between our many neighbors on this planet, hoping to inspire and encourage you to sink deep roots and produce sacred fruit in your own life. I have no way to open people's eyes. Except that you will show them how to trust the inner mind. On today's Spirit in Action, we'll be visiting with three participants to the 2005 Earth Day celebration held in Owen Park Eau Claire. Straight up by folks from Beaver Creek Reserve, the event brought together entertainment, games, knowledge, hands-on experience and earth-friendly businesses to raise awareness and enthusiasm for caring for the earth and our connection to it. Alex spent almost a year outdoors bicycling in the USA and Mexico. Jill has been president of the Conservation Club Eau Claire and Crispin is the Eau Claire professor in Environmental Public Health. Each has found an important connection to the earth and they are doing vital and varied work to touch the lives of many, including humans, in the Chippewa Valley and beyond. I was part of an Earth Day presentation in my hometown back in the original 1970 Earth Day event and was again staffing a booth at the 2005 Owen Park celebration. The 35th anniversary crowds were somewhat sparse due probably to the 45 degree weather. To remind us of some of the spiritual roots of Earth Day, let's remember words attributed to Chief Seattle, sung here by peaceful women, every part of this Earth. Every part of this Earth lead to my people holy, every part of this Earth lead to my people holy, every part of this Earth. Every part of this Earth lead to my people holy, every part of this Earth lead to my people holy, every part of this Earth lead to my people holy, every part of this Earth lead to my people holy, every part of this Earth lead to my people holy, every part of this Earth lead to my people holy, every part of this Earth lead to my people holy people holy, every part of this Earth lead to my people holy, every part of this Earth lead to my people holy, every part of this Earth lead to my people holy, every part of this Earth lead to my people holy, every part of this Earth lead to my people holy. This is Earth Day 2005, we're at Owen Park in Eau Claire and we've got people coming by visiting all the booths, listening to the music, eating food and drinking warm coffee because it's about 45 degrees out here, as opposed to the 70 degrees we had earlier in the week. I have my first visitor coming by to be interviewed, are you available to be interviewed right now? Sure. Can you tell everyone your name? My name is Alex. I take it that your spirituality has something to do as connected with the Earth. Absolutely, we spend our weekends farming and that's a great way to connect with the land. You only do it on the weekends, is that about 48 hours on the weekend? Yeah, about 48 hours on the weekend. I work during the week too and my wife does some gardening and farming during the week but I help on the weekends and that's the time where I can think about my spirituality and connect with the Earth and wonderful day to celebrate it here. Your spirituality now is connected with the Earth. Did you grow up connected with that? How did you start out? Where are your roots spiritually? We practice spirituality in a church and as I grew up I decided that I didn't get all I needed from that and so I spend a lot of time with our family celebrating by taking walks on Sunday mornings, looking at the sunrise, farming, those types of things I think are as important to us spiritually as going to church and we certainly do that as well but it's a sacred thing for us to farm and to spend time as a family doing things connecting ourselves to the Earth. Can you think of anything connected with religion or spirituality when you were young that gave you a special sense of connection with nature as sacred? I think it's something that developed through observing all my parents and my family appreciated nature and camping and just being appreciative of nature around me. I think it's pretty much impossible to have grown up enjoying nature, spending time doing things in nature and not developing a sense of spirituality when you're in those environments. I think over time that's just become part of me. I'm not certain how it started it's just who I am and I think a lot of people feel that way. It's just a matter of taking the time to do it and I think most people feel that way when they're there but dedicating time to being in nature is I think the key for us. Your family evidently did do camping and that kind of things so whereabouts and how? We're from Minnesota and so we spend a lot of time in the northern woods in Minnesota and that was a very spiritual place for me. We have a family cabin up there and I think now it's sort of any place. I've traveled a lot of places in the world and pretty much when I'm out of the city I feel some kind of spiritual sense. Any particular places that struck you with a sense of the divine, the places in nature I mean the north woods in Minnesota are certainly a good place to start. A week ago I was at the Grand Canyon. The way that it struck me is I caught my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon and I said how great thou are. I just admired the hand of the Creator doing that. Are there any places that have struck you? It's amazing how it seems to kind of surprise me. I've been to the Grand Canyon and certainly had that odd sense but I'm struck with how often it happens when I'm driving to work and the sunrise is coming up at 6.30 in the morning and it kind of hits you. I think for me it's not that I have a special place it's just having a sense that I give myself time out to be in nature and these things just kind of happen. I guess I don't have a philosophy I'm not going to be somebody who's going to sit here and give you locations or any philosophy for my life I just open myself up to finding spirituality in nature and by keeping my eyes open for it I think it happens. Can you talk at all about any connections that you saw between religion and this spirituality that includes nature? There are some folks who think of themselves as very religious who don't seem to have a level of concern or connection to nature. Can you name any strands or practices or beliefs related to your religious either upbringing or current practice that relate those two? I guess I'm still at the phase of my life where I'm searching for that perfect spot. First of all I guess I've had spiritual feelings like I do with that sunrise at church and I've had certain moments in church where I felt this was an amazing experience and I love that and I also love the fact there was a community there. Like many people I'm still searching for where the right spot is as you move different geographical locations and get married to somebody who maybe has a different upbringing than you do and try to figure out how to best spot to raise your children and for right now we're doing it through those moments in nature and I think someday we'll find a community that fits us and we're one of that 15% of Americans who goes to church occasionally but doesn't have a specific location that we go to join with other people but I'm hopeful that we will. I think that's the one thing that's always a little difficult to talk about because it's one of those people who doesn't go to a specific church at a specific location regularly. You feel a little like maybe you don't even want to talk about it. It's why I'm a little nervous even speaking but I think as long as you're searching for that and you're open to it something will happen and you'll find your spot. My wife when she was about 12 her family did a trip up to the shore of Lake Superior and she had an immediate sense of the divine there that really connect her with that spot and she also did a camp that she went to each summer where it involved lots of singing and lots of being outdoors and I think a lot of her deep spirituality came that way. Did you have anything connected that way? I actually did a lot of bicycling. I've ruled my bike across the United States and biked a lot of places. At one point I actually spent a better part of a year on a bike and sleeping in a tent and that experience I think changed me more than anything just getting in the rhythms of being outside a lot. It was actually kind of a shock to the system to come back and live within four walls after that. It's more of a adjustment to come back to living in four walls than it was actually leaving it. I guess that year allowed me, as I mentioned earlier, just have that sense for keeping my eyes open, sort of experiencing those moments when they occur which I don't know how often it happens, probably is much more than the person who goes to church once a week. What led you to a year outdoors biking across the United States that sounds like a pretty amazing undertaking. How did that come about? I had an opportunity between different parts of my schooling and had a year where I felt like I could do this and had to support a family and when I decided to continue biking outside of the United States they were a little scared but eventually they got used to it and actually loaned me some money so I could live on my bike for a while and had a really amazing experience. Where did you bike outside the United States and where did you go within the United States? Down on the western coast from Tijuana then down through Mexico and from southern Mexico up to the eastern Carlos Jose United States and then bike back to Minnesota. Sounds great. Spirituality, in my view at least, is all about experiencing where you're at and when you're on a bicycle as opposed to in a car or if you're on foot you experience the place that you're going through much more so than you do in a car. Any places that just almost knocked you off their bike with the beauty with the inspiration? Yeah, we slept at a Mayan ruin in the middle of the Yucatan in Mexico and it was an amazing place my wife was with me and she was sitting on top of this temple and I was several hundred yards away and we could talk to each other in a whisper and so it was one of these places that they built thousands of years ago that clearly they had amazing engineering kills and it was still just an amazing place and it was interesting because it actually had sort of been reclaimed by nature. All these temples were in the process of partial restoration but for the most part nature had taken over. The jungle was encroaching again and it was one of those places just amazing filled with the sense that there's way more to life than I'm ever going to see and it's just great to be witnessing a part of it. I certainly felt that there. When it comes, I just don't know what else to do. I need to come back home to you again to reach my way. To smell the air, to hear a loom, to touch the stars, to feel the moon, it sets my soul The singing ones again, where the cold, where the cold, where the cold, I'm lost and so alone here in this throne, I've lost the sight of a right and wrong, it's been so long to see God's creatures running free, alive and in the place they ought to be, where the cold, where the cold, where the cold, where silence is no cause for fright and time is when you stop, and when you start, what is the part of all you should live in, make all you need to live within, the stronger news that takes you to the heart of Cuatica, Cuatica and the other, Cuatica and the other, Cuatica and the other, Cuatica and the other, Cuatica and the other, Cuatica and the other, Cuatica and the other, Cuatica and the other, Cuatica as when we met the land and heard the call to Cuatica, Cuatica, we're lost and so alone here in this throne, we've lost the sight of a right and wrong, it's been so long To smell the air, to hear a moon, to touch the stars, to feel the moon, it sets my soul to singing once again. When it comes, when it comes, when it comes, when it comes, when it comes. You mentioned earlier that you're a physician, yes? Does that have something to do with your deep spirituality, or is that just because you want to be rich? No. If I had wanted to be rich, I'd probably found a different way. It's very nice to be able to make your family comfortable, but my grandfather was a physician, and I actually grew up not thinking I'd ever be a doctor. I was an engineer, actually, before I went to back to medical school. Actually, on that bike trip was when I decided that I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to do something where I could connect with people, and I think there were so many experiences, both in the United States and Mexico, writing my bicycle, where I felt just amazing sense of connection with other people. Strangers who would take us into their homes, and were extraordinarily giving. And doing it in multiple different locations, I got to see people from different religions and different cultures, and different socioeconomic backgrounds, and they were all amazing people. I think in living in this world you see so much bad news, and you see so much that makes you think you want to see inside your house and close the doors. That experience really made me want to open my doors, and do something where I could do that every day, and I think being a physician is a wonderful way to do that. You get to be part of people's lives and really get to connect with people. You may not know this. The word religious comes from Latin word "religio," which means "to bind up or to make whole." And I can hardly think of a better description of what a physician does. Yeah, I think it's true. I certainly don't want to say that I'm a religious person, or a religious minister in any way as a physician. I think that would be presumptuous, but I do think that there are things within our job which require us to really connect people on the innermost level, which is something similar to what different types of religious people do. And I think if we do our job well, we treat people emotionally and physically as well spiritually, and I try to do that as best I can. You said you were an engineer, or trained at least as an engineer before you did your bicycle trip. What kind of engineer, and what led you away from that, was it simply being drawn to being a doctor? I love problem solving, and I loved actually working in groups, and when I was a student, a lot of the type of math and science things I was involved in, there was lots of group activity. And when I was in my master's program, getting my master's in electrical engineering, I sort of became less involved with that, and I became a specialist in a small area, which required me to spend lots of time in front of a computer and with books. And I missed that connection, I guess. As you get older, I think you grow into yourself, and I realized I needed more connection with people. So it was an evolution. I still enjoyed the time I did it. I worked as an engineer, but not sorry, I changed, that's for sure. ♪ Just give me the warm power of a sun ♪ ♪ Give me the steady flow of a waterfall ♪ ♪ Give me the spirit of living things as they return to clay ♪ ♪ Just give me the rest of the power of a wind ♪ ♪ Give me the comforting glow of a wood fire ♪ ♪ But won't you take all your atomic poison power away ♪ ♪ Everybody needs some power up cold ♪ ♪ To keep them from the darkness and the cold ♪ ♪ Some may seek away to negate control ♪ ♪ When it's fallen so weak you're still in our lives ♪ ♪ I know that life's our last day ♪ ♪ Yours and mine and our descendants in time ♪ ♪ So much to mine ♪ ♪ So much to lose ♪ ♪ I think that everyone of us has to choose ♪ ♪ Just give me the warm power of a sun ♪ ♪ Give me the steady flow of a waterfall ♪ ♪ Give me the spirit of living things as they return to clay ♪ ♪ Just give me the rest of the power of a wind ♪ ♪ Give me the comforting glow of a wood fire ♪ ♪ But won't you take all your atomic poison power away ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Give me the warm power of a sun ♪ ♪ Give me the steady flow of a waterfall ♪ ♪ Give me the spirit of living things as they return to clay ♪ ♪ Just give me the rest of the power of a wind ♪ ♪ Give me the comforting glow of a wood fire ♪ ♪ But won't you take all your atomic poison power away ♪ ♪ Take all your atomic poison power away ♪ ♪ Take it away ♪ So, Jill, you're part of the Conservation Club at the University. Actually, I think you're the head of it. What led you to be involved with and take leadership in the Conservation Club? Well, I'm not really going into a conservation type of occupation, but I've always been sort of a nature girl. I'd rather be outside than stuck inside somewhere. When you go outside and you see things that you don't want to see when you're outside, you've got to take action. So, I thought, you know, it's there. People need to help out. So, I just joined to try to help other people be aware. Did you have other ways of living out your outdoor connection camp or other things? Yep. I'm a big camper. I'm a fisher woman. I'd like to go hiking and biking. I always like to be outside. Your parents, your family, are they into the outdoors? Was your camping with them, the biking, all that? Actually, that stuff wasn't, but my dad has always done a big hunter and fisher. We always keep a camper in Bay City, Wisconsin, so we were there a lot camping. You're part of Conservation Club, and what would you say are the goals of Conservation Club? Well, our main mission is to increase awareness, not just on campus, but community. Events like this where it's not just reaching people of your own age, but other people that may not necessarily want to learn about some of the things you want to have and learn about. You said to raise awareness, but raise awareness of what? Just that, you know, everything you do, like your actions have consequences, and you have to really keep a conscious mind of, "If I do this, how is it going to affect something else?" and everything makes an impact, just trying to get people to be aware of it. Can you name a particular experience event that gave you a really strong reaction? It might be a reaction of joy. It might be a reaction of anger related to the kind of things that motivated you in Conservation Club? There's part of the town in Rochester. It's heavily wooded. I came home one day. I saw that they had torn down a whole tons of acres of trees, and I came back like a month later, and there was a sign up for the housing development that they were making, and they called it The Hundred Acre Woods. The new One Hundred Acre Woods, and every time I see that sign, I just want to write, "The new destroyed One Hundred Acre Woods." I'm like, "You took down so many trees to make this development, and then you go and call it Hundred Acre Woods." That's one thing lately that's not been so joyous. Are there any particular experiences of strong joy with respected outdoors, a particular moment that really rang your chimes? My fiance and I went to Soudona, Arizona, and we were mountain biking. We would stop and climb up onto these huge cliffs and just sit and look around and just be able to see these incredibly gorgeous pieces of nature. You don't want to see things like that get wrecked, so they aren't there to enjoy. What would you say are some of your most fundamental values, the stuff that obviously inspires you toward Conservation Club? Just being able to use what you have, but not in such an excessive way that you're over consuming, you have to leave everything in the way that it came. Just really using only what you need, I guess, which is something I still, you know, you can always do more. Have you made changes in your life as this awareness has become clearer to you? Have there been things about your lifestyle that you've changed or is it still on thinking level percolating? Is your fiance on the same wavelength? Um, he is. I still have to explain things to him. Some things he doesn't understand. I'm kind of in the process. It's still mostly in my brain. I should do more of this, but I've really tried to cut down on my driving, and I try to buy as much of post-consumer waste paper as possible, and just trying not to buy things that I don't need. Have your parents set any examples for you on this, or are you the new generation forging the way? I'm heading to the new generation forging the way. My dad, he has enough money to buy another boat who'll go buy another boat. I was talking to my mom yesterday about it, and I said, you know, you think since he's out there fishing every day and hunting every winter that he'd really care about what's going on, and she said, you know, he'd rather just have somebody else do it for him. And if everybody has that same mindset, you know, nothing gets done, so if you don't really account for your actions, then nothing's gonna happen. How were you raised, and did it have any spiritual themes that related to environmentalism to the outdoors to that kind of thing? I wasn't really raised in the household of church going, but as I'm getting ready to get married, I'm trying to become more of a spiritual person and learn more about the being that brought us here. I thank him every day that I have this wonderful earth to live on, that I was given this home, and you need to take care of where you live. Thanks, Joel, for taking time to talk with me, and thanks for being part of the energy to make this Earth Day celebration happen. Thank you. ♪ ♪ Mother of a song ♪ ♪ The place of our birth ♪ ♪ How can we stand aside ♪ ♪ It's the reap of the world ♪ ♪ This the beginning of the end ♪ ♪ This the most heinous of crimes ♪ ♪ It's not nearly as tough as it is ♪ ♪ When it's back to let it shine ♪ ♪ All the time ♪ ♪ Mother of a song ♪ ♪ The place of our birth ♪ ♪ We all have witness ♪ ♪ To the reap of the world ♪ ♪ ♪ Some claim to have crowned her ♪ ♪ A queen ♪ ♪ Cities of concrete and steel ♪ ♪ There is no glory, no honor ♪ ♪ In what results ♪ ♪ From the reap of the world ♪ ♪ Mother of a song ♪ ♪ The place of our birth ♪ ♪ How can we stand aside ♪ ♪ Watch the reap of the world ♪ ♪ ♪ If you look ♪ ♪ You see with your own eyes ♪ ♪ If you listen ♪ ♪ You will hit the grass ♪ ♪ If you care ♪ ♪ You will stand and testify ♪ ♪ Stop the reap of the world ♪ ♪ Stop the reap of the world ♪ ♪ Mother of a song ♪ ♪ Mother of a song ♪ ♪ Mother of a song ♪ ♪ Mother of a song ♪ ♪ Mother of a song ♪ Crispin, you were one of the significant organizers of the Earth Day event. How did you get involved in that? I teach public environmental health at the university and I have a deep commitment to environmental health issues around the community. So folks I know at the university through Beaver Creek Reserve invited me to participate and so I joined the team. My job at the university is very demanding and also very rewarding. I see a continuum though as part of our university responsibilities to do outreach to the community, to work with folks, community groups, to educate, to let people know about environmental health issues. It seemed like a natural continuum. A lot of people divide themselves. Their job is one thing and their personal life is another thing. Do you see that division happening in your life? Really don't. I see this again as very consistent with my own personal beliefs and morals, ethical values. Also my commitment to education, to research. I'm fortunate that I'm able to have a job in which I'm supported by being able to do teaching and research related to public environmental health but my passion is there as well so it feels to me like a real good continuum to be able to again work at the university and extend what I've learned to people in the community as well as participate as a community member myself. Where did you grow up? Did you grow up out in the middle of the woods with the trees and all that? Or how did you end up developing this love? My wife and I both grew up in Berkeley, California which is quite an urban area and the area I think rich with diverse thought and opinion, political point of view and so I grew up I think in a very open-minded kind of way. Many of the people with whom I grew up had an appreciation for nature and kind of understanding of the ecology in which we live and I think much of that was born or transferred into me as I grew up in this very diverse community in Berkeley. What was your encounter with nature? I think we were living right next to the San Francisco Bay and the West Coast which is a beautiful place down Highway 1 and going to places like Stinson Beach and Cronkite Beach, one of the favorite places my wife and I share. But also a little bit in our backyard. One of the most significant events of my life was that when I was born my father planted a large Monterey pine tree and that tree is now 49 years old as I am. It's a beautiful tree and it kind of dominates the neighborhood and we hear the beautiful selling of the wind through the pine needles. So I think from a very personal and urban experience I grew to appreciate the elements of nature around me. Also as an undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz I was President of the Surf Club and so I got to go out and go surfing and appreciated the beauty and the power of nature in large waves and surf and rocks and things we needed to avoid. Any particular places where you feel virtual presence of the earth where it just breaks you open and lets you know that you're in this tremendously special place. Maybe that beach is one of them I'm not sure. That sounds like it has personal connections but maybe it's also on this other level. The place where you just kind of sit with your mouth open going wow how wonderful. I think there are many places in this country that I've been able to experience including the Southwest looking at places like the Grand Canyon and some of the other national parks. There's just magnificent places to feel. Very small but also very much a part of the world. We tell stories, one of the favorite bedtime stories from my daughter Avala. We talk about the world and we talk about the sounds of the world and what it's like up in the mountains and by the sea and in the corn fields and in the forests. I've had some of the little bit of that experience every day. I also really value the opportunity to live here in Eau Claire and we have a little bit of a backyard kind of making into a backyard wildlife sanctuary putting in a little wildlife pond. I just got up in the morning I listened to the birds and now we have woodpeckers and just appreciate the little portion of nature that we can support and feel very close to it. In addition, while I grew up on the West Coast, every day on my bicycle I get to cross the beautiful Chippewa River. In some ways I feel more close to the kind of natural beauty and flow of life by seeing that river every day than perhaps I had even on the West Coast. You do a lot of biking so I think it's your primary mode of transportation. Is that put you out of step with people here as compared to Berkeley or other places you've left? I think that Eau Claire is a great place to bike. We have some wonderful trails and with the evolution of Phoenix Park we're going to extend the bike trails as well. I found the people are really quite gentle and caring just in the way over here a young lady from the University was just very considerate by stepping aside as it rode past on my bicycle. It's a smaller town. I feel pretty safe here. While Berkeley and Seattle where we'd spent much of our time are great cities in their own right they are more city oriented and so the opportunity to ride bikes to go through Owen Park to go on the bike trails in my short like one kilometer commute to the University is I think very safe and very comfortable. So whether it's me, my wife and I renting a tandem bike or myself and my little daughter Avala in the Burleigh pulled behind we get along quite well here even in the snow in Eau Claire. You work professionally environmental science and health. What would you say the objective of your discipline is? What is purpose of those who practice environmental health? Our environmental public health program is based in disciplines such as chemistry and biology and we train students to go out and be able to practically implement solutions whether it's making sure restaurants are safe, houses are up to code, understanding how to protect wildlife and our ecological resources through the DNR. There are just many many facets to the kind of work that we do and the kind of teaching we provide. Particularly this day and age of evolving issues and concerns whether it's bioterrorism or new strains of prion type diseases like chronic wasting disease we need to keep up to date on these kinds of issues and more and more the focus of our program is human environmental health as opposed to human or environmental health. For so long we as public health professionals have seen a need to protect ourselves or isolate ourselves from nature. Now we're finding that really is a mistake. Studies are now showing that we keep ourselves too clean for example. We actually are more susceptible to disease that farm boys, farm girls who go up around cows and horses have lower rates of asthma and allergies. So more and more our program is emphasizing not only the practical aspects of making sure restaurants are safe but also environmental health aspects we understand that issues like global warming like providing for floodplains for the Chippewa River so that houses aren't washed away but also that ecosystems are preserved. It sounds like the question is how do we protect human health in the environment? What about concern for the other inhabitants, the plants and animals that share this space? Are they simply facilitators to human health or do they have their own worth in either your job or in your personal life? Well certainly they do in my personal life. I think both spiritually and morally. And spiritually I feel a deep connection with the plants and animals on this planet with which I share the space. I think much like the American Indian ideal of a spirit within every living being. Morally I feel that we really need to take a look at what we're doing to our environment. The mass extinction of species concerns me greatly. I think we have no right to do that. When I'm separate from a science point of view from my work at the University we do teach the basics of science and the basics of environmental health on a very objective level. The most recent information that we have now is that we look at the environment as providing services for the human survival and services again like having a floodplain for the Chippewa River so that we protect our houses and roadways but also keeping air clean so that we protect our forests, we plant trees, looking at ways to reduce emissions because we all need healthy clean air to live. So as we infringe upon that service that the environment provides we suffer as well as the plants and animals around us. So we're finding it's a whole one-hole ecosystem that we're a part of and by looking to preserve the services that nature or the environment provides us we increase our health, our longevity, our quality of life. I have a brother. He is self-described as a born-again Christian and he says he's an environmentalist. He usually provides a kind of a caveat when he talks about that. He says that you just can't go overboard because we have to have progress and we have to have development and jobs and all of that kind of thing. Do you want to comment about your values or your outlook on those kind of things? I mean for instance he would just ridicule the idea of not doing development in an area because the snail-daughter is there. What perspective can you bring to that? I think much of that does involve faith. I think faith is a very important component of our society. Ultimately though we know that we're talking about a sustainable ecosystem, sustainable development. So I think we would all agree in the framework of managing the resources. So development obviously cannot continue forever. We will end up polluting the air, the water, the soil and that will make us sick and less able to have families. But we all do want a good strong life. We want a healthy life. We want a life for our children and the key to that we're finding from both ends of the spectrum is looking at a sustainable development plan, ways that we can plan out for the provision of natural resources for ourselves and for our children and children's children. So I think that's a page on which we can all agree a sustainable development is essential to our future. Either any particular animal or plant species or individuals that you feel a special spiritual connection or maybe just emotional connection or both too. I do on a personal level I have a real affinity and kind of identification with trees. Obviously from an ecological perspective we provide wonderful things for us in terms of clean the air, providing oxygen, cleaning ground water, shade, reducing wind speed, beauty to our environment and aesthetic beauty. So for myself, trees represent a very, very important part of my environment and our environment and that's kind of a message I like to be able to share on an informal basis. From time to time I'll make presentations about actually the economic value of trees to kind of allow people to understand why these are so important to our survival and health. That would be one species in particular that I have a personal affinity for. White pine, silver birch. Sing their names in requiem. Giant's of our northern land. We'll never see your likes again. White pine, silver birch. Sing their names in requiem. Giant's of our northern land. We'll never see your likes again. Two hundred years ago, the giants ruled the shield. Till white man came and saw the prophets they could yield. They fell like thunder and left no trace. But giant stumps that stand as head stones in their place. White pine, silver birch. Sing their names in requiem. Giant's of our northern land. We'll never see your likes again. White pine, silver birch. Sing their names in requiem. Giant's of our northern land. We'll never see your likes again. In north Ontario, some giants still remain. Though fewer number now, the axman comes again. What will you tell them when your children ask you why? Our last remaining forest giants had to die. White pine, silver birch. Sing their names in requiem. Giant's of our northern land. We'll never see your likes again. White pine, silver birch. Sing their names in requiem. Giant's of our northern land. We'll never see your likes again. I'm going to try and tread on some kind of sensitive areas. And I realize there are scientific things that one can prove in their opinion and value things that one can hold. Some people might say human life has this value and animal life has no value in its own except as it facilitates or hurts human life. You talk about your feelings or your insights that you have about that. Is there a reason to have that approach to dealing with other lives? I think there really is a spectrum of kind of attitudes on different life forms and their value compared to our own life form. We have ranging and beliefs from like the Sikhs in India who will wear masks so they don't harm the bacteria and the insects around them. So people who are really not very careful and really consider human life to be the only important life on this planet. We've come to know however on the practical side that we're interdependent. We depend on the bugs, the bacteria in our GI tract to help us live and the bugs on our skin as well. There are many many ways when we're finding interdependencies. So there is certainly a difference in a range of maybe moral values and I think much of it really is couched in our evolution. I think most people would find it to be more acceptable to step on a cockroach than to see a large jungle cat killed. So I think there's real truth to our values and at the same time there's a broad spectrum of how people understand and rate those depending upon their background and even religious beliefs. In addition, the sciences that we are interdependent on the plants and animals on this planet. So the degree that we're eliminating species may be eliminating cancer cures. The degree that we're filling in wetlands, we're moving our ability to clean water for us to use. So there are many ways to look at this problem and I think all of it was considering. Are there any values that you have personally about animals, plants, nature, environment, whatever it is that you think are at variance with mainstream scientific thought? When I do the best job I can of trying to segregate my beliefs, my personal values from the work I do as a scientist. There's a lot of concordance as I've mentioned that both I have an appreciation scientifically for the interdependency of us and other species on this planet but also an appreciation. But certainly there are times. There are times we were out at the seven mile landfill. I took a class out there on Thursday. And it was disappointing to see so many trees cut down for the expansion of the landfill. Now, I personally was quite saddened by it and at the same time the practical value of it is that this is space that will be used for landfill. It has been approved of landfill expansion and so there's a practical side as well. So there are many ways to look at these issues. There are times, as I just described, I felt a little bit at variance with kind of traditional values. So there's room for that, room for that kind of expression. Have you ever been called by anybody or thought of yourself as a tree hugger? Well, what I attempt to do is I certainly feel that way. What I attempt to do is have my feelings and think about what they mean. And then if I'm going to have interaction with somebody, a neighbor of ours cut down some trees and we were quite sad. So my wife and I talked about it for quite a while and then approached them in a way to just express our concern and let them know or ask them if they had other plans to do some replanting. So I try to make as much of effort as I can to have my own experiences. And then when I'm communicating and maybe writing a letter to the editor, I express myself in a ways that appeal and take into consideration other people's values. You mentioned at one point the Native American approach to other plants and animals. In their prayers, for instance, at least some tribes, the common phrase I've heard is all my relations referring to other plants and animals. Christianity and Judaism are less well known to have those kind of roots or connections to any of the other species on the planet, I guess you'd say. Any place where you feel like your spiritual connection with the rest of creation has been particularly encouraged, supported, as opposed to spirituality or religion that has taken you away from that. I think you refer to a good point that we have in the Judeo-Christian ethic talked about go forth and multiply, have dominion over the earth. These kinds of ideas that really make sense in the evolution of human culture, the notion that we have to think of ourselves first and protect our families and our children. We're coming now to know, though, that those are not the best ways to live our lives. They ultimately are destructive as we have overpopulation problems, wide, widespread famines. Millions of people will die this year as a result of famine. Much of this can be prevented when we look at providing good healthcare, contraceptive choices, education, the empowerment of women. So more and more we're finding, and I guess my beliefs are becoming embodied by science in as much as looking at the whole. And I think that gets back to the Native American kind of beliefs where we talk about innate value in all species. I do any particular songs or pieces of music that express speak of this connection you have. I thought about that a fair amount, as I've mentioned. I'm a dancer and choreographer, so I have pretty good exposure to different kinds of music I use to teach her to choreograph shows. The one song that stands out and I perhaps conclude of my age when I grew up is Mercy Mercy Me by Marvin Gaye. And what strikes me in particular is that Marvin Gaye, obviously a singer-songwriter and wonderful artist who performed in the years of civil rights. And it was part of the show place, part of the stage of black musicians and artists coming to the forefront. It really represented a civil rights issue where blacks were seen more prominently and more important part of our society, of the big society. And so while struggling with civil rights, here's Marvin Gaye writing Mercy Mercy Me Protect the Ecology. So it's actually one of the few songs that I really find speaks to some very, very deep roots, whether it's the opening of our society to adopt all members. And at the same time to respect the planet we're on, respect the ecology, the air, the water, the trees that surround us in our parts of our life. How do you live your life differently in your house or in your home because of your connection with the rest of creation? If I were to be preaching about it, I would suggest that the main choices we make that affect our environment are the cars we drive, the houses we live in, as well as what we eat. Having more fuel-efficient cars really makes a difference. Having smaller houses in the downtown location close to where we work makes a difference. And tending towards a vegetarian diet reduces greatly the impact we have. Personally, Becky and I of all have chosen to do things like we compost, we do recycling, we conserve water and energy. We do things that are new to us in the Midwest. During the winter we can put things outside to be cold and stay frozen. There are ways in which we can, we've insulated our house again, we've planted a lot of shrubs and trees on our property to shield us in the sunshine and then reduce windshield factor in the winter. We mow with a push mower, which is good exercise for me. We don't use any chemicals other than soaps and baking soda and vinegar in our house nor on our yard or plants. While we're wanting to be sensitive to our neighbors in terms of having our relatively neat appearance, we give a little bit of our yard to nature. We do some native vegetation planting and allow it to grow. It's a way that we feel really imbalanced like we're really making a difference. Becky brought a worm bin into our basement. She is giving presentations as a matter of fact a series of classes at the Family Resource Center on just ways to live life more simply. She's participated in your event in learning how to live simply and enjoy and really find that being a very rich experience. Becky has made a huge difference in our lives as a matter of fact. I was looking at buying a computer the one I had before was seven years old and looking online at Dell and also at CTEC down here in Eau Claire and kind of going one way or the other. Becky said, "What do you mean? These are local producers. There's certainly no shipping costs but no environmental pollution. We go down there and pick the computer up ourselves." Becky has made a real huge difference in my life in pointing out things that I can learn in ways that are definitely consistent with the kind of life I want to lead. Is there anything more you can contribute before you have to be somewhere? I realize that tonight at seven o'clock there's the wrap-up meeting for the Earth Day event. Anything that you can pass on. I think the Upper Midwest is a wonderful place to live. That may sound funny from somebody who grew up on the West Coast. But I really value the kind of deep work ethics, the honesty, the open-mindedness of people that I've found here. And I know we have a lot of people who really appreciate and enjoy hunting and fishing. And that's really consistent with my beliefs of looking at the natural environment to provide services, but also protecting that environment. So I believe here in the home of Gaylord Nelson, our former governor and senator, the Upper Midwest is a wonderful place, a place we can make a difference, a place that we can provide leadership for the country and for the world in ways that make our planet and our environment more sustainable, more healthy, a better place for our children, and I'm glad to be part of it. Thanks very much for joining us and especially for helping make the Earth Day celebration we have this year happen. [Music] And this is part and island in our show. This is our home, 30 from the sun. Let it be evergreen. Let it be evergreen. [Music] And this is part and island in an ocean. This is our home, 30 from the sun. God keep it evergreen to keep it evergreen. Let it be evergreen to keep it evergreen to keep it evergreen to keep it evergreen to keep it evergreen. God keep it evergreen to keep it evergreen to keep it evergreen to keep it evergreen to keep it evergreen. Thanks for joining me, Mark helps me, for a visit to Earth Day 2005. My thanks to Alex, Jill, and Crispin for sharing their comments and journeys. This program included music by peaceful women, every part of this Earth. Cuetico, sung by Claudia Schmidt and Sally Rogers. Holly Neer performing Power, followed by Tracy Chapman and Rape of the World. Eileen McGann sang her song for the White Pine and Civil Birch, called Requiem for the Giants. The concluding song is called Earth Anthem and it is by the Turtles. The theme music for Spirit in Action is "I Have No Hands but Yours" by Carol Johnson. Thank you for listening. I welcome your comments and stories of those leading lives of spiritual fruit. You can email me at helpsmeat@usa.net. May you find deep roots to support you and grow steadily toward the light. This is Spirit in Action. I have no higher cause for you than this, to love and serve your neighbor. Enjoying selflessness, to love and serve your neighbor. Enjoying selflessness. [Music]