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“Humans need creation to find ourselves. To know that we’re not God over other human beings, or over the earth.”
— Sister Lynne Smith, Prioress of Holy Wisdom Monastery
I’ve always loved a good science fiction movie with its visions of alien worlds. One concept that stuck with me is “terraforming” — reshaping a planet so it can sustain life where it otherwise could not. Of course, here on Earth, we’re working in mostly the opposite direction.
Rereading Douglas Tallamy’s Nature’s Best Hope for tomorrow’s Native Plant Gardening Group, I was struck by how much of our landscape has been “reverse terraformed.” In the U.S., most land is private, and in the East, nearly all of that is lawn. Much of what we plant comes from other continents and can’t support local ecosystems. In our efforts to control nature, we’ve created spaces that no longer sustain life.
The hopeful part is that we can change this. Every yard, every patch of ground, can be "re-terraformed", or restored, to again support a functional ecosystem – to support life on our planet. This article, about the great work of the sisters of Holy Wisdom Monastery, in Wisconsin, documents how they have restored 170 acres of native prairie and oak savanna.
Our Native Plant Gardening Group meets tomorrow night from 6–7:30pm, both in person and on Zoom. All are welcome.
Abundant Blessings,
Rev. Chris
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