The mud of life

A missionary doctor, Paul Brand, well-known for his work with leprosy patients, died earlier this week. The Christianity Today magazine website republished an article Dr. Brand wrote in 1985 called "A Handful of Mud." Soil is life. Can we preserve it for future generations?

Dr. Brand begins the (very long) article by recounting a story from his childhood in India. He and some friends were playing in terraced rice paddies and broke down an irrigation channel so that mud from the paddies was washed away.

One of the boys had spotted an old man walking across the path toward us. We all knew him as "Tata," or "Grandpa." He was the keeper of the dams. . . .

[T]he elder stooped down and scooped up a handful of mud. "What is this?" he asked. The biggest boy took the responsibility of answering for us all.

"It's mud, Tata," he replied.

"Whose mud is it?" the old man asked.

"It's your mud, Tata, this is your field."

Then the old man turned and looked at the nearest of the little channels across the dam. "What do you see there, in that channel?"

"That is water, running over into the lower field."

For the first time Tata looked angry. "Come with me and I will show you water." A few steps along the dam he pointed to the next channel, where clear water was running, "That is what water looks like," he said. Then we came back to our nearest channel, and he said again "Is that water?"

We hung our heads. "No, Tata, that is mud". . . .

He went on to tell us that just one handful of mud would grow enough rice for one meal for one person, and it would do it twice every year for years and years into the future. "That mud flowing over the dam has given my family food since before I was born, and before my grandfather was born. It would have given my grandchildren and their grandchildren food forever. Now it will never feed us again. When you see mud in the channels of water, you know that life is flowing away from the mountains."

Dr. Brand documents other examples of erosion he encountered throughout the world, and then he asks,

Is there a common thread? It is not ignorance in all cases. Nor is it dire poverty (although that sometimes leads to the cutting of the trees for fuel). No, there would be enough for all if it were not for greed. More profit. Faster return on investment. A bigger share for me of what is available now, but may not be available tomorrow.

He goes on to write,

I would gladly give up medicine tomorrow if by so doing I could have some influence on policy with regard to mud and soil. The world will die from lack of pure water and soil long before it will die from a lack of antibiotics or surgical skill and knowledge. But what can be done if the destroyers of our earth know what they are doing and do it still? What can be done if people really believe that free enterprise has to mean absolute lack of restraint on those who have no care for the future?

Dr. Brand's hopeful answer?

The sense of concern for the earth is still transmitted by person-to-person communication and by personal example better than by any other method. Old Tata still lives on. He lives in the boys who played in the mud, and they will pass on his concern for the soil and his sense of its importance to future generations.

Tomatoes!

I don't have a digital camera (or new enough computer equipment to use one), but if you'd like to see a picture of the luscious tomatoes I've enjoyed for two weeks now, pop over to the July 11 entry at the Path to Freedom Urban Diary. One of my own tomato plants produced two yellow tomatoes, and the other plant has three large red tomatoes that are nearly ripe (yes, they do have proper names, but I'd have to go outside to get them). And two tomato plants grew up from seeds in the compost. They currently have quite a few blossoms. Meanwhile, I'm more than happy to pick up an order of tomatoes from the Path to Freedom family each week!

Linkages

The other day, I read this entry over at dangerousmeta!:

santa fe new mexican: taos fire intensifies. it's burning in the taos pueblo's watershed, threatening their water supplies.

It reminded me of a 1920 article in the Journal of Forestry by Aldo Leopold, "The Forestry of the Prophets." Leopold notes: "[The prophets] understood not only the immediate destructive effects of fires, but possibly also the more far reaching effects on watersheds." (p. 72; further discussion and qualification on p. 74) He then quotes from the book of Joel:

Unto thee, O LORD, I cry. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has burned all the trees of the field. Even the wild beasts cry to thee because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness. (Joel 1:19-20, RSV)

[Article reprinted in The River of the Mother of God and Other Essays by Aldo Leopold, ed. S. L. Flader and J. B. Callicott (Madison, Wisc.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1991): 71-77.]

An American in Africa

This is a sobering opinion piece in today's CS Monitor: "US creates African enemies where none were before" by David Gutelius.

PALO ALTO, CALIF. – President Bush repeatedly highlighted the importance of democracy, peace, and security during his African tour this week. But, administration mismanagement of the war on terror has deeply undermined stability across Africa in the past year.

In its African incarnation, that war has managed to produce almost exactly the opposite of what was intended. The administration has allowed African partner regimes to crack down on a wide range of Muslim groups over the past 18 months, creating enemies where they previously didn't exist. The majority of Muslim leaders in Africa abhor violence as a response to government repression and coercion. They have little or nothing in common with Al Qaeda. Yet US foreign policy in Africa has inspired radicalism, discredited moderate African Muslims, and fomented political instability in key nations. . . .

At several stops along his African tour, Mr. Bush touted $100 million in new funding to fight terrorism in Africa. Yet the administration appears oblivious of the effect of US policy on African Muslims. This is perhaps because few US government analysts speak local languages or have direct field experience in Africa. But if the US doesn't closely monitor how governments use this new funding, it's likely to increase political instability in a dozen African nations.

Sunday morning quote

From Richard Smith's essay in The Oxford American music issue, "Amazing Grace," on The Blind Boys of Alabama:

"Amazing Grace" is usually the celebration of a happy soul on salvation's shore; sung to the tune of "Rising Sun" it was transformed into the testimony of a human tossed up from sin and misery.

I realized in that moment why I am left cold by most religious music, especially "praise songs." I don't question the praise singers' faith or sincerity, but so many of their numbers are bouquets to God, thank-you notes to the Holy Spirit, infomercials for Heaven. The Blind Boys praise the Lord, yet bear burning witness to past trials. Praise singers celebrate their spiritual wealth; the Blind Boys want to get your soul out of debt. (p. 60)

It has been noted that in African-American music traditions the verse beginning "Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come" is the highlight of the song, in fact the last verse, whereas in white churches the last, and most triumphant, verse is "When we've been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun. . . ."

(I would disagree with Richard Smith that "I am left cold by most religious music." However, I do agree with his description of "praise songs.")

Saturday afternoon musical post

Part I

I'm listening to an incredible CD compilation at the moment from The Oxford American. I found out about it while reading through the archives of LivingSmall. Here's Charlotte's entry, including the playlist. Our local newsstand still had the special magazine issue and CD in stock. I've enjoyed reading the essays about the featured musicians, too.

I have really enjoyed LivingSmall, which I discovered via Path to Freedom. Charlotte is a wonderful (published) writer, who writes about the sorts of things I'm interested in and sometimes write about here, except she writes ever so much more eloquently.

Part II

My sister is singing at the Vatican tomorrow! I am so proud of her and the women's a cappella group, Schola Antiquae Vocis. They sing Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony, and other sacred music. Their director used to sing with a Vatican choir, the Cappella Giulia. They are singing Vespers at 5:00 pm and the Mass at 5:30 pm. They will be singing with "the men" according to my sister's itinerary. (Women's choirs are not common at the Vatican!) I've been trying to figure out what the men's choir is—maybe the Pontifical Musical Chorus of the Sistine Chapel? I'll find out from her when she gets back.

Anyway, they've performed four other concerts already throughout Italy and will sing one more concert after their Vatican appearance. Apparently it has been very hot in Italy this summer. However, my sister wrote in a postcard that the heat helps her hit the high notes!

Peace Like a River

Many of my musings these days would come out more like obsessings if I tried to post them here. Thus, the gaps. But I continue to escape into non-school-related reading.

I picked up at the library yesterday the novel chosen for Pasadena's One City, One Story "bookclub": Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. I read about two-thirds of it last night. It is a lovely story—and funny.

Book discussions are scheduled throughout the city, mainly at library branches. However, one will be held at Trader Joe's, I guess because there are many descriptions of homecooked food in the book!