We need good news to begin this week, so here it is. In his 2016 book, Half Earth: Our planet’s Fight for Life, the evolutionary biologist E.O. Wilson argued that half of the land and sea on our planet Earth should be protected. Although, only about 15 percent is now protected, last week another 8,000 acre patch of planet Earth was added, thanks to the Nature Conservancy (TNC).
Known as the Land Between the Rivers in southwest Alabama, between the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers, massive cypresses, oaks, and Sycamores stand in swamps and bogs. Named after Wilson, it was exploring this area as a boy that gave him his love of nature and the fierce desire to protect it.
Born in Birmingham, Wilson taught at Harvard for 40 years but never lost his love of this swampy delta in Alabama. Partially blinded in a fishing accident, he began studying insects. TNC buys up land and preserves it for the future we shall never see, but which, little by little moves towards saving portions of our planet for future generations.
Prayer for the Day
Saying we marvel in your creation, O Source of all life,
Oftentimes our actions belie our words,
For, in truth, we look to the earth for what it can give us.
More than what we take of your precious resources,
May we see that all life is connected through your hand,
And move to protect the life you have given us.
In the name of the One who shows us the way,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We have decommissioned natural selection and now must look deep within ourselves and decide what we wish to become.
E.O. Wilson, biologist, naturalist (1929-2021)
This place was extraordinarily close to his heart. It’s the sort of place as a boy that transformed his relationship with nature and allowed him to imagine that he could make a difference in the world.
Paula Ehrlich, E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
The moon and the stars that you have established;
What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
Mortals that you care for them.\?
Psalm 8: 3-4