Lake Tahoe, IUEC Conference (Elevator Constructors)

I got back too late yesterday to talk to anyone about that crest trail. Since I know there's snow up there, and my shoes are not good for that, I guess I won't. Frank has an early-morning breakfast meeting, so I'd have to get other transportation. My feet are saying don't. (But they'd change their mind once I got them there.)

Two more articles in Worldwatch have my attention. One is the article: Scrapping Mining Dependence, by Payal Sampat ( State of the World 2003 ). It's opening up whole new areas in my mind about our social habits that keep us destroying habitat and people's lives to produce metals and materials, some of which are much more available already in our garbage. Some of which we don't really need for anything (diamonds, gold, jewelry stuff). (Three tons of cyanide-laced waste is produced for each gold wedding ring.) Mining is highly subsidised by our government, therefore, we keep right on doing it. I think I'll pay more attention to our recycling, at least. Lobby for political change at best.

The other article, which I've been putting off, is "Engaging Religion in the Quest for a Sustainable World," by Gary Gardner ( State of the World 2003 ). I hope to write more about this later, but it clarified to me why Fr. Pat Creed had such a resonance with us. His interpretation of Gospel, of liturgy, of Church, is thoroughly entwined with the ethic of conservation and ecology. Fr. Pat Creed was one of the movers and shakers in the challenge stated in this article:

Our civilization's challenge is to reintegrate our societal heart and head, to reestablish spirituality as a partner in dialogue with science.

Fr. Pat's homilies thoroughly embody a vision of church in which the "old" church is in harmony with the "new" church, and the kingdom of God is very much in harmony with an educated, scientific view of ecology. I miss that man.

(This also clarifies for me why I couldn't stay longer at Holy Trinity, where Yuppie, money-driven, elitest "empowerment" pretty well submerges anything else. )

Any environmentalist wanting to follow Gardner's advice and link the environmental movement with the Christian concept of avoiding preoccupation with wealth, materialism, and excessive consumption, couldn't do much better than to mine Fr. Pat's lifework of homilies. I plan to continue posting them at A Catholic's Companion, and hope to keep them available in print at Watchmaker Press .