National
Water Center, Eureka Springs,
Arkansas
|
|
|
|
From the Publishers Welcome to the “new”
WaterWorks
It is becoming more apparent to those of us
concerned about our environment Page
6 Bioregionalism: A Positive Solution Heal the Waters As the air is the living breath of our planet and the trees are its breathing, the Earth’s Waters are its living blood, coursing through its streams with a flow as vital to us as the blood running in our veins… Through all our lives, the Waters have sustained, nurtured and healed our bodies and spirits; in return for the gifts of the land, the nutrients in the food, that pass through our bodies to become what we call “waste” to be returned to nourish the land. To use the Waters as a carrier and dump for “waste” nutrients is a deep wrong which impoverishes the land, and brings sickness both to Water and to us as we participate in this injustice. Since human “waste” must become a nutrient on the land, not a pollutant of the Waters, we must realize that though we continually strive to develop new technologies to deal with our problems, the greatest innovation is conservation. As we conserve precious Water, we can also conserve and enrich our soil through the recovery of human “waste”… All over the Earth, the rivers, lakes, and oceans have struggled to cleanse themselves of our thankless waste, but can do so no longer by themselves while we still have the measure of grace and health they have given us by their struggle, we must join them to conserve, protect and HEAL THE WATERS…” Originally written in 1980 for the National Water Center
(Eureka Springs, Arkansas) by David Haenke, this has always been a part of the bioregional resolutions. The proclamation was signed by then Governor of
Arkansas, Bill Clinton in 1982. Lion Heart for Brotherhood with Earth: A Tribute
to Jim Berry When I heard that Jim Berry had died it hit me hard. Jim was a lion heart for the Earth, for brother Thomas' world-shaking vision, for the Christian ecology movement, for integrity itself. Jim was the walking heart of integrity, of soul deep nobility of being. He embodied the best of a generation, made long journeys of the soul, from W.W.II Army Intelligence in a war that was at its essence a vast assault on the Earth itself, to relentless passionate advocacy for the Earth.
JAMES FANT
BERRY, 1917 - 1997 and his
Jim was a true elder in this time when we have so
few, and so many of them are leaving. I believe a true elder is one who is both
wise in the ways of human beings, while being connected in every dimension of
their being to Earth and family - in the knowledge that all of family is of
Earth -, in service to Earth, drawing power, wisdom and integrity from Earth,
always working for the good of Earth, in the knowledge that In what I have written I am saying Earth over and over. No tribute to Jim can ever speak of Earth too much. In his relationship to Thomas Berry, Jim carried his brother's flag with all the passion of his lion heart. His relationship to Thomas was as his relationship to Earth, and the finest blood brotherhood I have ever known. Shortly before his death I wrote a letter to Jim and told him this and how deeply I appreciated him, his relationship to Thomas, and the honor of knowing him and working with him over the years. Mary Berry told me after his death that he had gotten my letter and read it. I am thankful that I got a chance to tell him how much all he was and stood for meant to me before just he left. My work in starting to organize the Christian ecology movement started in 1984, when I asked Thomas Berry and others to work with me in bringing together the North American Conference on Christianity and Ecology - NACCE. Thomas involved Jim with this work. Jim was instrumental in bringing together the first major organizing meeting of NACCE in Syria, Virginia in 1986. From that time on there were some intense philosophical differences within NACCE. There were those who followed the beliefs of Thomas Berry, and creation spirituality, those who took a traditional scriptural approach, and a third group who appeared to see potential for power, influence, and money in the organization. Starting with Syria some of the scriptural Christian ecologists leveled some intense criticisms of Thomas' ideas. This deeply offended Jim, who took any attacks on Thomas as not only attacks on himself, but on what he believed was the only hope for the salvation of the Earth. Over the years the debates continued within NACCE and the Christian Ecology movement. Jim always fiercely defended his brother, but he never quit the organization or the movement. For awhile Jim was aligned with this third group
in NACCE, along with the other Jim was able to look
beyond
his
love of Thomas and see that even though the scripturalists disagreed with Jim and Thomas they were
honest and true to their beliefs,
and were being
wrongly subjected
to attacks and subterfuges by the
third group. It was here
that I witnessed, over a period of a
couple of years, Jim's profound
integrity
blaze through. He came
to strongly support the director
and the scriptural
members, not
because he came to believe in
their ideas, but because they had integrity, and were being wronged. It was all about integrity. It took a titanic effort for
Jim to come around to this, but he did. Jim came to greatly respect the
scriptural members of NACCE, even though he never stopped championing Thomas.
This was amazing and inspiring to Jim's spirit continues to amaze and inspire me, now through his grand daughter Acacia Berry and those of his family and extended spiritual family who keep honoring his memory and his life's passion for the Earth and Thomas' work. In July '98 I opened my mail to find, once again, the newsletter Jim put out for so many years, from his Center for the Reflection on the Second Law, this time written and sent out by Acacia. I did a couple of double-takes, because I never thought I would see the circular again, but there it was, Jim's spirit beaming out through Acacia, words and paper numinous with the light that seems to ever flow forth from the Berry family. If ever there was a generational transmission, it was there shining through that miraculous piece of paper, which announced the continuation of the annual conferences at Camp New Hope, a series that Jim started years ago, in the Chapel Hill area of North Carolina: a celebration of the life and work of Jim Berry. On October 23 – 25, 1998 the annual meeting at
Camp New Hope was held to discuss the life and work of Jim Berry. Tapes of
previous fall conferences can be obtained from Lou Niznik, Earth communications,
15726 Ashland Drive, Page
10 - Thinking Like a Mountain - please press link to view this page. |
National Water
Center Barbara Helen
Harmony :: email:
peace@ipa.net
|
My wish is that this issue will inspire hope for you as the bioregional movement has done for me. The
Bioregional Movement is about organizing on the basis of natural law instead of constantly reacting to
environmental crises. The movement organizes for life in harmony with nature. Our environmental crisis was that
a wildlife area at Lake Leatherwood was planned as the site for Eureka Springs sewage treatment plant. In 1979
a group of Concerned Citizens stopped construction by showing that this site was in a flood plain. Happy in our
victory which took several months we went on to search for a real solution to the Eureka Springs sewer problem.
We felt that this city built on healing springs could be
an example for the use of compost toilets. We came to understand that if people were not toilet trained to
water, they would not accept using it as a waste vehicle. We were helped in this
effort by friends in the WHY FLUSH
project in Missouri at New Life Farm. These same friends, Stuart Leiderman, Miriam Ella Alford and
David Haenke who had been helping on the water issue were also organizing the first bioregional congress, Ozark
Area Community Congress, (OACC). I'm sure they were inspired
by the work of Peter Berg and the Planet Drum Foundation. At
the original congresses, committees were formed that wrote
resolutions for many areas of life. Focusing on the Water
Issue at OACC and the North American Bioregional Congress (NABC), now Turtle Island Bioregional
Gathering, I met
many wonderful bioregionalists doing excellent water work. I’m happy to introduce some of them and their important work and
lifestyle in this premier issue of WaterWorks Journal. Tad Montgomery, George
Anna Clark, Dalton Shipway, Patricia Michael , Miriam Ella,
Coco Gordon, Don Bokledge and Eleanor Rae have all taken part in the Bioregional
Congresses. These articles reflect bioregional philosophy and lifestyle. It was
difficult for me to make
the shift from being an ecodefense, environmental
activist to taking a proactive stand. As the years have gone by the importance
of putting energy toward developing a sustainable lifestyle has become more and
more clear. No longer wanting to be in opposition, I am nurtured and given a
venue for caring through the bioregional movement. I feel empowered by the flow
and synchronicities of the bioregional movement. 