May 30, 2006 -
Day 7 - Week 8 - Memorial Day
The day honors the fallen. A
day set aside to remember and to give thanks for the
freedoms we cherish. I participated in a different
type of memorial service today.
As a clergyman who has spent
the last 16 years wearing the title of Minister for
the Environment, Diocese of Los Angeles I have been
privileged to be a part of events where my two hats
are worn simultaneously; the priest’s fedora and the
environmentalist’s baseball cap. Memorial Day was
just such a day, but the venue was unique and the
cause in all the headlines.
In South Central LA, at Alameda
and 41st there is a 14 acre farm that
supports small organic gardens tended by over 300
different families. It has been sold to a developer.
This turn of events was unacceptable to the
community of small growers who had come to rely on
this source of food and income since 1992. Out of
the ashes of the unrest of that year, and from an
abandoned and degraded site emerged this oasis in
the concrete jungle. Thus, they turned to others
for help, and into the breach stepped John Quigley,
Julia Butterfly Hill, Darrell Hannah, and Joan Baez.
I joined them to lead a service
of thanks, prayer, and blessing. It was called;
Healing the Heart of Los Angeles One Farm at a Time.
John and Julie are the famous
tree sitters of America, Ms. Hannah the well known
activist-actress, and Joan Baez needs no
introduction. The four have raised the profile of
the issue as well as spearheading the raising of
money to buy back the farm. Currently, they have
generated 11 million towards the purchase price of
16 million.
What intrigues me is that these
farmers are growing organically in a polluted,
degraded business and industrial section of Los
Angeles. This oasis of vegetables, nopales,
flowers, and food bearing trees reminds me of the
struggle an individual has remaining healthy in a
region where the air is polluted, and the quality of
life is challenging.
Our service was designed to
bring awareness to this small Garden of Eden tended
by caring families who benefit directly from the
fruits of their labor. The Rev. Michael Beckwith,
the leader of the Agape Spiritual Center raised the
issue of justice and environment going hand in hand
and I led a meditation on a farm. On my right was
Joan Baez. She sang in Spanish and the strength of
her convictions about the rights of others came
through both in song and person.
The press, print, radio and
television, was attracted by the notoriety of the
tree sitters but the respect of the soil, plants,
and flowers was evident by all. A ring of flowers
and candles surrounded the tree where John and Julia
have lived now for 15 days. For our concluding
prayer I invited all to form a circle around the
tree – we held hands and offered thanksgiving for
this unique piece of land set aside for a special
service.
Wearing my collar, being
introduced as an Episcopal priest, and then sharing
in a multi-cultural event that brings spirituality
and environmental activism together makes me humble.
I felt a part of something life affirming. Men,
women and children of many races, ethnic
backgrounds, and socio-economic strata set aside
time on Memorial Day to address the value of
healthy, sustainable farms.
This farm is an icon of what
should be, and not what is. Small farms, where food
is raised sustainably and organically is one giant
leap for humankind in the protection against
disease; especially those triggered or caused by
pesticides and herbicides.
I am proud of those who raise
our consciousness about significant issues that
affect all of our lives. It may not seem like much,
the preservation of 14 acres in the middle of a
degraded section of LA, but farms throughout America
are endangered and the saving of this one may serve
as a catalyst to save hundreds. I am privileged as
a priest and environmental educator to wear both my
hats occasionally; especially when the cause
benefits the common good.
Best to you Julia and John, the
guardians of the garden in a very real sense.
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