Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Reflection on Green Faith

Donna Aronson
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Palo Alto, CA

When I was a child, I lived with my great grandmother, whose home was on an acre on the city/county line. She had chickens, rabbits, outdoor cats, a big garden of flowers and vegetables, and an orchard of orange, guava, and plum trees and a giant pepper tree. It was across from an enormous field that had a pond with tadpoles in Spring, and Meadowlarks (I still love their song) and wild mustard and blue dick and California poppies. My brother and I spent days there. Now all that is gone. There is a shopping mall, with Arby’s, Burger King, Radio shack, a movie complex and a three story parking structure.

When I was a teenager, my step father was at Travis Air Force base. Near Fairfield, where we lived, was Green Valley Road — my favorite area, with a county park at the end of the road through acres of walnut, apricot and cherry orchards. All gone. Now Green Valley Country Club and golf course and housing has replaced them.

All my life I have loved hiking, mountain climbing, back packing, and camping. The best times! I once was a fair birder (use it or lose it) and was outraged when the Brown pelican’s eggs were breaking before hatching from DDT ingestion. I joined the Sierra Club in the ’70s to help protect the environment. At least pelicans are not poisoned and DDT use, is curtailed. Population control, like ZPG, and environmental causes were popular issues.

By the ’80s interest seemed to flag and in the ’90s the word environmentalist, like feminist and liberal, were not so glorious. Somehow, to many, conservation seemed less important. The last decade has been discouraging. “Clean air act” means pollution, and the polluters write the national energy bill. How depressing.

Who will speak for the trees, streams, fish, birds, animals and skies? Must humans consume everything? Are we like Easter Islanders, whom Diamond wrote about, who died after they cut down the last tree on their island. Do we want only pavement, freeways, superstores, agri-business, polluted alluvial waterways? Is to have a Hummer and a plasma TV a life goal? I hope not.

The times are a-changing — and some fresh wind is blowing, to paraphrase Bob Dylan. Everywhere are signs we are growing up, waking up, realizing all the precious, necessary, inspiring world of nature, the Beauty of the Earth, can be lost unless we homo-sapien (the hominoid who is wise?), care and act!

Have you seen Al Gore’s movie, “An inconvenient Truth”? Heard President Clinton speak and fundraise for environmental issues?

Look at these magazines — [Time, Nursing, etc.]

GREEN is in!

Hallaluyah!

I am joyous!

We are blessed to have time, energy, and know-how to conserve. Our mother is too precious to continue to hurt and harm. Our lives depend on it!