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Rev. Joey N. Welsh: Essay for Earth Day Another Angle. Earth Day, Rachel Carson, Eddie Albert, Senator Gaylord Nelson, and a Saint Named Franciswas first published 16 April 2006 in the Hart County News-Herald. To see other articles by this author, enter "Rev. Joey N. Welsh," or "Another Angle," in the searchbox. The next earlier essay posted on ColumbiaMagazine.com is Pointing Fingers Earth Day 2010, is Thursday, April 22, 2010. ColumbiaMagazine.com is reprinting this Another Angle to commemorate the First Earth Day celebration in Columbia, at Lindsey Wilson College on April 22, 1970, when then students John Chowning of Amandaville, Cumberland Co. KY and Kathy Pence (now Chowning), of Stanford, Lincoln Co., KY, initiated the celebration. Rev. Chowning continues the promotion today of Earth Day at Campbellsville University, where he is now Vice President for Church and External Relations and Special Assistant to the President By The Rev. Joey N. Welsh Biblical writers knew of the profound connection among all parts of creation. Psalm 148, a hymn of praise to the Lord, mentions the varieties found in the individual pieces of creation while describing their essential unity and interrelatedness as God's handiwork. It reads in part: Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.In our own age often we need to be reminded of the intricacy, interdependence, and holiness of creation. Earth Day, an annual observance that falls each year on April 22, is a good time for people of faith to lay claim anew to the same reverence for creation that the psalmist possessed. One of the landmarks of modern awareness about human responsibility for the sanctity of creation came in 1962 when biologist Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring was serialized over several weeks in The New Yorker. Researched meticulously, Carson's work revealed the destruction wrought on animal life by the pesticide DDT as it entered the food chain. DDT was a chemical that had only been in use since the end of World War II, and its drastic affects had been sudden. Still, DDT was a tremendously potent insecticide with many defenders because of its effectiveness. Many politicians and public figures thought that Carson's book was too hot to embrace. A lot of people were quoted as having no comment about Carson, or they claimed they hadn't had a chance to read Silent Spring and could not speak to it. One Hollywood figure was willing and eager to speak out; Eddie Albert, actor on stage, television, and in films, willingly accepted the role of spokesperson for DDT awareness. He took a lot of heat for making a stand in favor of environmentalism, but he did not back down. Throughout the rest of his life (he died in 2005 at the age of 99) Eddie Albert was generous with his time and money on behalf of environmental issues. It is a shame that many people know him only as Oliver Wendell Douglas, the urbanite trying to be a farmer on reruns of the farcical television series Green Acres. Meanwhile, at the same time that Eddie Albert was on the speaking circuit raising awareness about environmental concerns, Wisconsin's new Senator, Gaylord Nelson, was carving a niche for himself as one of Capitol Hill's leading conservationists and environmentalists. Elected in 1962, he was to serve three terms as senator until his 1980 defeat. In 1969-1970 Nelson helped to organize prominent citizens and interested groups of college students and naturalists toward a national day featuring thousands of local teach-ins and service projects. This day of education and action was to heighten awareness about the wellness of the environment and a new term pertaining to those concerns: ecology. It was to be called Earth Day. One question had to be answered. What would be the date for the event? It needed to be a date after most college spring breaks, but before finals. April 22 finally was chosen as the day because of its convenient location on the calendar vis-a-vis college students, and because it was the birthday of two people dear to the ecology movement. J. Sterling Morton, founder of Arbor Day, and Eddie Albert, the actor who had donated so generously of his efforts and resources for environmental causes. (Green Acres was still in its initial run from 1965 to 1971 when Earth Day was born. Back then I was a junior in high school, clueless that Eddie Albert could be anything other than merely silly.) For people of faith, though, Earth Day simply expresses some bedrock biblical truths in a newer form, some of the same truths about creation's vital interdependence that had occurred almost 800 years ago to St. Francis of Assisi as he wrote All Creatures of Our God and King. Always known as a man with a deep sensitivity for God's creatures and creation, he wrote these words as a portion of his longer work of religious poetry, words that remind us that all parts of God's creation work together to form a magnificent and interdependent whole:All creatures of our God and King, Lift up your voice and with us sing, Alleluia! Alleluia! Thou burning sun with golden beam, Thou silver moon with softer gleam! O praise Him! O praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Thou rushing wind that art so strong, Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along, O praise Him! Alleluia! Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice, Ye lights of evening, find a voice! O praise Him! O praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Thou flowing water, pure and clear, Make music for thy Lord to hear, O praise Him! Alleluia! Thou fire so masterful and bright, That givest man both warmth and light. O praise Him! O praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Dear mother earth, who day by day Unfoldest blessings on our way, O praise Him! Alleluia! The flowers and fruits that in thee grow, Let them His glory also show. O praise Him! O praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! And all ye men of tender heart, Forgiving others, take your part, O sing ye! Alleluia! Ye who long pain and sorrow bear, Praise God and on Him cast your care! O praise Him! O praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!Blessings on you all at Earth Day 2010! And blessings on the souls of Rachel Carson, Eddie Albert, Gaylord Nelson, and St. Francis of Assisi!E-mail: joey_n_welsh@hotmail.com This story was posted on 2010-04-18 07:48:24
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Being Green is a good thing Rev. Joey N. Welsh: Pointing Fingers Lamentations on the state of divers things; how they are, anymore Billy Joe Fudge: Earthquake insurance a good idea Rev. Joey N. Welsh: George Hurrell, Kentucky photographer Rev. Joey N. Welsh: Robert L. Surtees Rev. Joey N. Welsh: On temperance Success is the ultimate result of the strivings for excellence Billy Joe Fudge: Poetry is meant to be read aloud Rev. Joey N. Welsh: A birthday appreciation of an old friend View even more articles in topic Commentary |
 
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