In 2012 Rotary District 5960 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the St. Croix Wild and Scenic Riverway. The reason was to identify efforts that lend themselves to collaborative efforts and partnerships. Rotary International has emphasized partnerships in the past, of course, and several are well known – think about the efforts to eradicate polio.
Partnerships have taken a front and center stage in the upcoming year – Rotarians, people of action, coming together with like-minded organizations that have a mission to better the livers of people all over the world. In this new era of pandemics that carries the potential to disrupt lives in unsettling ways, nature is all the more important.
As businesses shutter, churches close, and schools go online, we are told we need to be at home. Recall the heartfelt scene of Italian residents standing on their balconies and connect with their neighbors by creating joyful music.
Nature, in both built environments and wild spaces, works the same joyful magic. When we think about moments we feel the presence angels, every one of these involved a miracle of nature – the spontaneous applause that erupted when viewers watched the sunrise over a mountain; walking through Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove looking up and out in silent awe at this marvelous act of Creation; listen to nothing more than the silence filled by the dawn chorus of songbirds; or recall the return of butterflies whose sheer numbers are a reminder of the earth’s abundance. In gardens, both urban and rural, life cycle itself before our eyes and remember that we are connected to this miracle of nature.
All this feels reminiscent of the moment Sam, in Lord of the Rings, looks out over a dark landscape and sees a twinkling from above. The beauty “smote his heart.” A “clear shaft” pierced him, “in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty forever beyond its reach.”
The natural environment can and does provide a “clear shaft”. Edgar Mitchel – the 6th astronaut to walk on the moon – felt this returning to earth in the Apollo capsule. As Mitchel gazed on our planet he realized that we needed a new, grander language to speak of our connectedness, and to describe our potential as humans. Gaylord Nelson felt this as well when he conceived Earth Day 50 years ago. The list goes on.
We are Rotarians who understand, like Edgar Mitchel, that we are ready for a new language of potential. When we encourage children and their parents, or their grandparents, neighbors or friends, to take a walk in a city park or on a remote hillside; to behold the most marvelous of nature’s glory or the most common of occurrences; we know that instant provides a comforting reminder that life is bigger than any one moment in time.
Wherever you or any of us are, we are home; a home that we share with the natural world; a world we are deemed stewards of.
Judy Freund Ed.D. DG 2011-2012, Rotary District 5960 jannfreund@sbcglobal.netSupport International Educationwww.globalwisconsin.org
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