One farmer says to me, “You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make bones with;” and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying his system with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle. Thoreau, Walden
Let’s Do This Thing!
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — An off-the-grid New Hampshire man’s days living as a hermit appear to be over. “River Dave,” whose cabin in the woods burned down after nearly three decades on property that he was ordered to leave, says he doesn’t think he can return to his lifestyle.
If you needed another reason to ditch bottled water and turn on the tap, a new study shows that it’s 3,500 times more harmful for the environment than tap water. This number comes from assessing everything from extracting the raw materials (to make the bottles) to manufacturing, distribution, transport, usage, and disposal. The Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) focused on bottled water usage in Barcelona, Spain, and gives one more reason to stop relying on bottled water.
My Modern Met
“All of the participants on the ride had been taught the discipline and philosophy of nonviolence, but those of us who participated in the Nashville movement had benefited from gifted teachers—Rev. Jim Lawson, himself a conscientious objector in the Korean War who had traveled to India to walk in the footsteps of Gandhi, and Rev. Kelly Miller Smith, a learned and esteemed church leader in Nashville. They taught us the philosophy of Gandhi, Thoreau, Emerson, Plato, Aristotle, and others to illuminate the lineage of thinkers who believed in the inalienable rights of humankind. We had also participated in role playing that prepared us mentally and physically for this moment.”
John Lewis — Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change.
After those beautiful pages on morning and on being awake, Thoreau writes in his Walden:
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the es- sential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
He adds mysteriously, “nor did I wish to practice resignation unless it was quite necessary.” I suppose he means he did not intend to be resigned to any- thing like a compromise with life, unless it could not be avoided.
Thomas Merton December 6, 1950
YES, PLEASE!!!!
