A promise for the earth
How can we reach harmony with our planet?
from the April 10, 2007 edition
Page 1 of 2
One of the biggest ecological disasters ever to occur was the so-called Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Centered over the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas and extending into surrounding states, the area had been grassland capable of surviving almost any weather extreme.
Once its ancient sod cover was plowed and the planting of grain was interrupted by the difficult economy, the rich soil was lifted by the wind and blown thousands of miles away, sometimes obscuring the sun along the Atlantic seaboard.
A central character in Timothy Egan's book, "The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl," was an Oklahoman farmer named Bam White. With the price of wheat dropping, he typified the practice of farmers across the area who plowed more ground to plant more grain to earn enough money to make payments on their tractors.
State and national governments, farmers, businessmen, land speculators, everyone across this vast area of the country, were forced to recognize the impact that people could have on their environment. It was also a lesson of what not to do in the future.
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its second major report on Friday. A news story about its findings suggests a return to conditions resembling the Dust Bowl in some parts of the United States.
Is it necessary to return to lessons already learned before reaching harmony with our planet? Let's hope not, but in the meantime, there is always something one person can do. Prayer is not a handful of dust thrown hopefully into an unhearing wind. Prayer is harmonizing one's own thought and fondest desires with the only power of the universe, God.
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