{"id":66713,"date":"2013-05-04T04:10:03","date_gmt":"2013-05-04T08:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=66713"},"modified":"2013-05-04T04:10:03","modified_gmt":"2013-05-04T08:10:03","slug":"for-mothers-sake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/by-judith-gayle-2\/for-mothers-sake\/","title":{"rendered":"For Mother’s Sake"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“If nature were a bank, they would have already rescued it.”<\/em>
\n— Eduardo Galeano<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s Beltane. It’s Spring. It’s snowing.<\/p>\n

I guess you can take the girl out of California, but — well — you know the rest. Almost fifteen years into this adventure, I’ve never truly acclimatized to Midwestern weather patterns. I’m still startled by the starkness of forests bereft of leaves or an achingly-long winter landscape dressed only in black, white and shades of gray. The swelling and budding of trees, the quiet, almost instantaneous transformation of a harshly vertical world into one softened under a vivid green canopy, always come as something of a surprise, even though it’s expected.<\/p>\n

\"Political What isn’t expected — by me or anyone else I’ve talked to lately — is to see that lush new foliage covered with clumps of wet, white snow in May. Coming on the heels of three 80+ degree days, a plummet into daytime temps in the 30s is not just a shock, it’s unprecedented. Those of us who live close to the land check weather a couple of times a day. These days, you have to. Heavy rain preceded this latest weather assault, unable to soak into ground already saturated by better-than-average rainfall earlier in the month. It doesn’t take much intellect to wake up and smell the irony that a drought-stricken section of the nation not only exceeded its need for water but is endangered by flooding.<\/p>\n

Winter storm Achilles is breaking records in Missouri, which has had only one other May snow event in recorded history, and well to the north — in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota, where they expect extremes — records have been broken as well. Sioux Falls hadn’t had a May snowfall since 1944, and an astonished Tulsa never had one at all. Meanwhile, the mighty Mississippi, the major waterway of the nation’s interior, has settled into a disastrous flood and drought cycle <\/a>that is exacerbated by outdated planning and a tug of war between business and environmentalists. Apparently no infrastructure in this nation has been attended to since the Fifties, and we’ve been asleep at the switch since.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Since I’d followed my intuition and planted most everything in large containers which are now weathering the storm inside, I won’t lose anything from my garden (except perhaps the baby lettuce and onion starts I’m currently fighting the elements for) but there’s no denying that this will be yet another year with a slim fruit crop and late local produce. Once again, climate change is messing with the food supply in a way impossible to ignore, one that even the simplest minds can grasp. Easier to turn a blind eye to greenhouse gas, farm subsidy and the results of toxic factory farming than to deal with the obvious: digging out your front stoop in May. Oh, yes! This is the perfect time to have that conversation with your neighbor.<\/p>\n

Much like Hurricane Sandy, winter storm Achilles should be, for all intents and purposes, a teaching moment regarding global warming, but the very mention of warming while retreating to stocking caps and mittens in May will be more confusion than some of us can manage. Maybe if we changed the label to global extremes, everyone would get that we have an emergency on our hands and a responsibility to attend it. Corporations — which by law are configured to maximize profit — won’t ever be friendly toward environmental regulations, being unable to “hear” the wisdom of not killing the golden goose, so the remaining argument has to do with ethical stewardship of the planet. And sadly, ethics ain’t what they used to be.<\/p>\n

Me, I blame Jesus, or at least those who insist he’s due any minute. If his followers didn’t expect him back in a cape and mask to save us, we’d probably try a little harder to save ourselves. Don’t laugh: 41% of Americans think he’ll be back by 2050, while 38% are pretty sure he won’t show up in the next four years, but any time after that. I can’t even begin to imagine where we’ll be in 2050 if we don’t begin to take action now.<\/p>\n

I’ve been watching the PBS series on the dust bowl these last few weeks, and the extraordinary turnaround that occurred when scientists put their heads together and began rotating and terracing crops seemed — tragically — so simple and yet so late in the game. In days gone by, we turned to science for answers and got them. Now, scientific thought isn’t nearly as persuasive as the contrarian notions that money, fear and stubbornness can buy.<\/p>\n

Getting climate change reality across to those who refuse to hear it is quite a dilemma. Watch this brief YouTube clip<\/a> with Senator Al Franken, trying to explain the difference between science and opinion to Congress. It’s pitiful that something like this should go on national record, but only if you’re easily embarrassed, I guess. The Republicans seem to have no fear of putting on a Bozo nose and behaving like loons if it earns them a check from ‘big bid’ness’ or a vote for re-election.<\/p>\n

I blogged on this issue years ago, suggesting that one of the problems in getting Republican assistance with anything was their spit-in-the-eye refusal to do anything they didn’t think of first. “Don’t tell ME what to do!” is their battle cry, and that aligns nicely with the most simplistic interpretation of the notion that mankind has dominion over all the earth, able to do as s\/he wishes. With that kind of an attitude, in 2050 (when Jesus comes back,) there’ll be blowing sands and not much else.<\/p>\n

If you’re way beyond the simple arguments, load this YouTube<\/a>, put together by Grist staff writer, David Roberts; it’s a good one to pass around. This read<\/a> from Organic Consumers also contains good information, explaining how the majority of our 21st century farming practice makes the most extreme use of chemicals and toxins in order to produce feed lots for animals. This is important because even the usually conservative scientists at World Bank Group “claim that more than half of the green house gasses are emitted from animal agriculture.”<\/p>\n

Lefty columnist David Sirota argues that if we substituted non-animal proteins for every fourth dinner menu, we could make a considerable change in the national footprint. The problem, suggests Sirota<\/a>, is with the politics born of ideologies within the two parties. He writes:<\/p>\n

The trouble, of course, is that environmentalism and conservation \u2014 like everything else \u2014 have been unduly politicized. Consequently, opposing those once-universal values now seems to be viewed by many on the right as a constructive expression of patriotic defiance. Indeed, according to one recent study, many self-described conservatives will refuse to buy a green product once they see it marketed as being environmentally responsible. Similarly, another study shows that conservatives are prone to consume more energy when warned that they are already using a lot.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It all comes down to authority. Some of us trust government to behave in the people’s best interest, and are willing to push hard, invest ourselves, to make sure that happens. On the other side of the fence, close to 30% of conservatives are expecting an armed revolution in the next few years (hence their passionate investment in “Take America Back” buttons and stockpiles of ammo in the basement).<\/p>\n

As illogical as it sounds, the notion that God isn’t an environmentalist (although Goddess, and all her hippy-dippy admirers, surely is) is at the crux of our communication problems. Gratefully, the polls reflect a good deal more common sense, these days, than do the politicians and their rural, old and mostly white constituents. Like everything else we’re facing, the political divide on climate change isn’t so great a problem as the broken political system that keeps a handful of radicals, and an army of eager lobbyists, in power.<\/p>\n

Of course, the general public has not been asked to give up their hamburgers or pay substantially more energy costs in order to make a transition to an effective green economy. That’s a hard sell, but snow in May and rising sea water may do the trick. How would that look? It would take some real educational commitment from the government along with a willingness to be instructed from the public; but first, we would have to agree to prioritize the general well-being of our citizens and our planet over corporate profits or banking schemes. And anxious as we all are to see that happen, snow or no snow, that won’t be taking place this week.<\/p>\n

So it’s climate change on every plate today, here and across the world. Snow and rain in the Eastern US, burning time in the West. To my homies in the Golden State — suffering projections of a dire and dry season unassisted by the inadequate 17% snow pack this year and already smelling smoke from dozens of fires brought to you on stiff Santa Ana winds — hang in there. Snow may be my problem but water is yours<\/a>. Those of you on the Pacific coast need to watch out for the water wars ahead, the frackers and exploiters, but that’s another essay.<\/p>\n

Now, a word about Jesus. I have about zero confidence in a second coming of the historical Jesus — the “baby Jesus” as my daughter so often says, making me laugh. Not so, however, Christ consciousness. Christ consciousness is the reason, in my opinion, that so many of us have not thrown the Christianity baby out with the bathwater. The majority of the Jesus story paints an unusual and unlikely portrait of someone confident of his own divinity and able to think outside the box of common thought, able to inspire and encourage others, which is what made him dangerous to authority. Whether historically accurate or a fairy tale, the example of such a life story is paradigm changing, a pathway to transformation should we wish to embrace and duplicate it.<\/p>\n

I have EVERY confidence that same energy is moving across the face of the planet today. Christ consciousness is about the human heart, about the connection we have to one another and everything that is. Christ consciousness is that spark of divinity we call the Great Mystery. Once you’ve had an experience of that, it’s impossible to ignore. As Albert Einstein wrote, “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”<\/p>\n

All true art and science, then, come from that same Source that lifts us and brings us into harmony with one another. That consciousness can mend our differences, our planet and our future. It’s ours to call upon, if we want to surrender to its alchemy and instruction, its counsel and encouragement.<\/p>\n

The Second Coming isn’t about someone returning, one of these days, to save us. It’s about a rare and extraordinary energy signal, a free-flowing connection to a loving Cosmos, here now, that’s empowering us to save ourselves: one step, one menu selection, one political vote, one conversation and one artistic expression at a time.<\/p>\n

Blessed be each of you, this Beltane. Love your life, your planet, your neighbor as yourself. You’re the mystery and as your heart opens, love will heal and make beautiful all that you touch. Do it for your own sake and for your Mother’s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves “If nature were a bank, they would have already rescued it.” — Eduardo Galeano It’s Beltane. It’s Spring. It’s snowing. I guess you can take the girl out of California, but — well — you know the rest. Almost fifteen years into this adventure, I’ve never truly acclimatized to … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1744],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66713"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66713\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}