Earth Day Again
DOK Western Missouri
“Oh, Earth, you’re too wonderful for anyone to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it—every, every minute?”— Thornton Wilder, Our Town.
Emily speaks these memorable lines in the play Our Town after she returns to earth for one day in Grover’s Corners following her young, untimely death at age twenty-six. In the Thornton Wilder play, she chooses to revisit her twelfth birthday and soon returns to her grave—when she can no longer bear watching the people she loves barely interact with one another. They seem unable to appreciate the joy and wonder of each new day together, and fail to see the Christ in one another.
Emily in Our Town
I am reminded of a past Earth Day when I listened to music about the earth, such as Beethoven’s Sixth Pastoral Symphony, as we traveled from a reunion in Virginia to the Gulf Coast. Hearing this symphony immediately brings back memories of our four years in Iowa City. The music served as the backdrop for a visual production of Iowa’s outdoors called Iowa, A Place to Grow, a reminder to bloom where we were planted and to appreciate the beauty of the earth and the people of that state.
I remember the first Earth Day in 1970. It was the day my husband of six months left for Vietnam for a year. I was pregnant with our first child and felt sorry for myself. I spent the day watching the Earth Day celebration on our small black-and-white television and stripping the wax from our kitchen floor. I knew I had to channel the energy generated by Robert’s departure into something useful. I wish I could write here that I planted trees, but my kitchen floor was as far as I got.
I do remember one Earth Day trip when we drove through a gentle rain. The car radio played American composer Alan Hovhaness’s tribute to a beloved tree on his uncle’s farm that was struck by lightning, “Under the Ancient Maple Tree.” The best I could do that day was enjoy the ride, give thanks for the rain, and be grateful for the bountiful green trees keeping us alive along Interstate 85. Today, that Earth Day, feels even more meaningful because lightning recently struck a tree in our backyard, so close to our house. We hope to care for that tree, knowing it took a hit for us.
I wish I could say I participated in extraordinary events to care for and thank our Earth, especially its trees, on the other fifty-five Earth Days since that first one. Still, I honestly cannot remember many Earth Days.
I think of my father, a forester who led hundreds of expeditions to plant pine seedlings. I remember, on trips, how he often pointed out the tall trees he had planted. Now, many years later, I thank him for his plantings. I know he would be proud of our daughter, Joanna. She also has a master’s degree in forestry, taught wilderness classes at the University of Montana, and is a master outdoors lover.
From my father and daughter, I have learned that our environment, the outdoors, and especially trees, keep us grounded in the present moment. I think Emily in Our Town speaks to this present moment, where we learn to appreciate each precious gift of time, especially time with those we love.
My experience is that I live most consciously in the present moment when I am outdoors, seeing the trees and plants. I realize that something more significant is happening than the past and future, with which I am so preoccupied.
I am reminded of Parker Palmer’s thoughts that, as trees photosynthesize light into chemical energy, they also photosynthesize, transforming our energy when we are outdoors.
On a recent Earth Day, we drove through northwest Arkansas and western Missouri to meet with more than fifty Daughters of the King from the Diocese of Western Missouri. The trees, especially the cedars, along with the rolling hills, creeks, and bridges, were stunning, as were these extraordinary women. We talked a lot about living in the present, and we experienced it that day as well.
C. S. Lewis, so many others, and now Emily all remind us that the present moment, not the past or the future, is where we meet and recognize God in ourselves, in each other, and in nature. Caring for and being in nature is one of the best ways to know the Creator, the God of Love.
I hope that if we can live as much as possible in the present moment, savor it, and let love be our guide, we may be able to overcome our social and warring unrest better than before.
Joanna. Joannaseibert.com https://www.joannaseibert.com/