Learning

In the fourth grade, Sr Mary Augusta asked her students if any of us had non-Catholic parents.  Looking out at the raised hands she said, “Oh, pray for them.” Thereafter, I looked at those classmates with special concern, imagining their turmoil in knowing one or both of their parents were destined for a different kind of eternity, and not a good one.  During that same year Vatican II determined that christians outside the catholic faith were also eligible for salvation. I don’t recall Sr Augustus updating the rules to her class.  Maybe she did, or maybe she needed time to accept the new doctrine for herself.  Decades later a friend would share his conclusion that it was not necessary to be catholic to have access to heaven, but it sure helped.  Such was the speed of accepting change.

Deep rooted beliefs are not replaced on a whim, the lessons learned early in life not easily abandoned.  We are products of our upbringing.  We aren't hatched from eggs laid by wayward mothers, the kind of beginning reserved for turtles or insects or some of the snakes.  We’re more like wolf pups, born into society and taught the ways of survival. We absorb our surroundings, the cultures and teachings embraced by those before us. 

Attitudes and prejudices have steered history from the start (thank you, Heather Cox Richardson). The 1776 proclamation that all men are created equal was written by and applied to white males. It excluded women, slaves, native and Mexican Americans, by popular assumption and perceived fact. Slaves, as everyone knew, were less than fully human, three fifths at best. The indigenous could be handled with treaties that were as solid as sieves.  Women were pigeonholed, treated as secondary citizens, denied basic rights.

And so our country was founded on beliefs and assumptions that were at times blatantly false and often unfair. Succeeding generations watched and listened and fell into cultural norms and prejudices that, clearly enough today, remain entrenched in our psyches.  Norms reinforced with time are tough to change.  The mindset that drove the industrial revolution, the exploitation of resources and labor, the profit driven, consequences-be-damned mentality that now threatens the earth’s ability to provide ecological services is embedded at a subconscious level, and remains influential to no small degree.  Many of us may now recognize the threat, but solutions requiring behavioral or lifestyle changes will have to wait.  Surely, we say, a technological remedy is near at hand and life will go on as before, only better.  

A FB friend recently posted a quote from Walt Whitman: “Re-examine all that you have been told… dismiss that which insults your soul.”  It’s not an easy mantra to embrace.  Moving along with the herd is where most of us find comfort.  We stick with what we believe is righteously proven, following cues from those before us. Besides, personal reflection and reviewing long held beliefs and standards requires effort, and it’s easier and more sensible to go with the flow and not make waves.

I’m an old white guy so am part of the generation who now occupy many top positions in government and sit on corporate boards carrying lifelong prejudices and outdated notions. Too many of us have never known anything else, and we’ve resisted the self examination that might bring our faults to light. What worked for dad and grandad works just fine for us, thank you.

Not everyone is so afflicted. Many youth today carry a huge promise. I see it in our sons, who claimed their right to independent thought at an early age and have continually opened my eyes to the error in my ways.  I won’t give them all the credit but will always appreciate their influence. And I’ll pass some credit to my wife, who has always been ready to take a stand against the status quo, especially when environmental concerns are involved.  With all this enlightenment comes recognition of the enormity of the task at hand.  We won’t save the world by planting a few trees, composting food waste and recycling water bottles.  The root of our problems run much deeper and require attitudinal and systemic change.  The newer generations, with novel thoughts toward home ownership and family and money, with eyes opened to impending cataclysmic environmental events brought on by their predecessors, are moving the baseline.  The majority recognize what lies before them and are scrambling to save their futures. 

We make mistakes. Our institutions make mistakes. It’s what happens and it’s unavoidable. But repeated mistakes that damage the earth’s ecological well being have put us in a new ballgame, and if solutions require systemic and attitudinal change, all the better.  Not easy, but better.  And mandatory.

There’s an old white man in the White House who seems to get it, and with a pen full of ink is following up on promises, spreading hope.  The majority of American voters put him there, so maybe this self examination thing is catching on.  Mary Augusta had the luxury of time to digest and contemplate the impact of Vatican II.  A few old white men and a world of youth see time running out.

Winter, Truths and Untruths

It’s winter in Indiana and it looks like it.  The 10 day forecast shows the possibility for snow but mostly promises cloudy days with highs just above freezing and lows just below. To sum it up: sloppy by day, firm by night, sunlight a rarity.  The pandemic continues to influence our routines so there is abundant time at home, limited social contacts, and economic strain remains a grim reality for millions.  Our nation’s Capitol was recently swarmed by an angry mob and there are rumors and warnings that similar rebellions are yet to come.

Today is bread day, a routine carried out three times a week for a local shop.  Each effort yields six loaves.  I have a routine on bread mornings: start a pot of coffee, build a fire in the wood stove, add tepid water to a three gallon bucket holding a blend of flours and yeast. If I’m on schedule, dawn is breaking and a few birds have arrived at the feeder as I begin kneading.  If the birds are aware of recent events in DC they show no indication.  Their focus is on finding food.  Surviving.  It’s what most of us are doing while rebels try to shake things up.

Disagreements within the bird kingdom are kept local and limited to brief skirmishes.  They have no courts to settle disputes.  Questions that arise regarding territorial boundaries or squabbles over feeding privileges are resolved quickly without broader consensus.  Birds don’t watch the news or spend hours on social media trying to sort facts from endless claims. They stay focused on the business at hand and assure disruptions are short lived and of minimum consequence.  This they do as they play out a crucial role in the circle of life, providing ecological services that help keep us alive.  This they do as their numbers worldwide plummet as a result of our activities.

I watched our dog chase a raccoon up a pole and out of reach.  After a short time the dog feigned defeat.  She lowered her head, took three steps out of sight, waited briefly, then returned with fangs bared just as the raccoon reached the ground.  Perhaps if the dog and raccoon shared a language there would have been civil discussion; the raccoon reasoning from atop the pole, the dog deliberating from below. Maybe it would lead to a treaty wherein the raccoon would have free reign over a plot of land outside the dog’s patrolled territory and the dog would agree knowing the treaty would be short lived, because that’s just the kind of dog she is.  It’s how we dishonored agreements with native Americans; it’s what our leaders do today as they say one thing and do another. Deception and lies complicate and disrupt progress. Distrust fuels conspiracy. 

The bucket of dough sits on the floor near the wood stove.  The yeast is tending to business, feeding on carbohydrates, generating carbon dioxide, alcohol, and heat. They collectively determine whether the outcome is a lofty, aromatic loaf or a flat, tasteless cracker.  Provided the right environment the yeast will respond flawlessly, carrying out a timeless and invaluable service of decomposition.  I lift the lid to check progress. The dough is rising nicely, the yeast byproducts sweeten the air.

Somewhere shortly after the start of the Industrial Age we began to ignore an unwritten treaty between ourselves and our planet. It stated that in exchange for ideal living conditions we would recognize and respect an endless stream of necessary ecological services provided at no cost.  We gave the treaty a sideward glance then set to work converting abundant natural resources to capital.  We worked hard, used our ingenuity, developed technologies, built wealth, improved our standard of living, and demonstrated greed and ignorance in the process. We were innocent enough in the beginning but the consequences of our actions have long been recognized yet ignored.  We have allowed our numbers to multiply to the breaking point, depleted resources and buried key components of the treaty under our waste.

It’s past dawn now, the day is underway.  In Washington, a few who have stood silently behind a curtain of lies are speaking out.  The virus runs rampant and is mutating as the first wave of vaccines struggles to get administered. It’s cloudy, sloppy by day, firm by night.  The birds and yeast are oblivious, steadfast to their objectives.  The earth adjusts to our presence.