Writing Letters to the Editor and to Congressional Members

So the energy thing really has me going. Sand mining continues apace in this area of Wisconsin. New mines are being sought, developed and opened faster than most of us can even begin to keep up with. Town and County boards are unable to understand the ramifications of the projects they approve, and believe what representatives of the industry tell them. There will be new jobs, they say. It will actually improve the roads because there will be a bigger tax base. There are no health implications. These are all suspect kinds of statements, because there is little to no evidence that mining of any kind improves much beyond the corporate bottom line. I am going to explore in much greater depth the water implications of sand mining because it's hard for me to believe that using millions of gallons of water that then sits in holding ponds is "a good thing." In fact, I suspect it may be a very Bad Thing.

I went to a workshop recently about writing effective letters to the editor. I intend to take the sand mining issue, especially the water implications as my focus for a while. I hope to be able to get some letters to the editor in both larger and smaller newspapers in the next few months, so that people will think more critically about allowing these kinds of mining operations to take place without many safeguards in place, without making the mining corporations pay for all the damages to air quality, water resources, and the lives of citizen-taxpayers living in the vicinity.

Starting Again - New Direction

I have not posted on this blog for some time. However, recent events in my region of Wisconsin have sparked my concerns for the land, water and people of this special place on the planet. Our State has now suffered under a regressive political party that has reduced the income of thousands of people to put wealth in the hands of a few members of the 1%. Our environmental quality is being degraded due to lack of enforcement of environmental regulations, to the growth of sand mining activity in our area, and to the lack of protections for air and water quality.

I am a Catholic Christian, definitely in my senior years. I am a woman who, at the beginning of my working life, worked as a planner in antipoverty agencies, regional planning agencies, and in policy and budget planning for a State health care financing bureau. For the last 16 years I have worked as a psychotherapist and I've also been a spiritual director for the last six years. I care deeply about people, individually and collectively, and the planet we all inhabit. I believe that the Creation - all of it - is sacred, because it is loved by God.

Humans emerged from the dust of the earth.  We have the life of God breathed and breathing in us. We have a special place in this world, having the capacity to comprehend, reflect upon, and live in awe in this awesome universe/multiverse. We do not have the right to destroy other people, other species, the land, the air, the water. To do so is not only a mistake, it it is evil.

We have the sacred privilege to know and love God, (the "God of our understanding," as they say in AA). We have been enjoined by spiritual leaders of all religions to love "our neighbor" whomever she or he may be. We have the joyful responsibility to tend and care for this earth. I am devoting this particular blog to exploration of the human mission here on earth, as described above, i.e., love for God, neighbor (everyone), and the earth. Much of what I write will relate to what is happening here in west central Wisconsin. I will look at how the love of God, love of neighbor and care for earth is being reflected (or not) in what happens here, and in the responses of various individuals, groups, policies and political alliances to unfolding events. I will make suggestions about ways to better show, tell, and expand such love. I will bemoan what appear to me to be failures and celebrate when I see examples of care and creative response.

Here are some of the kinds of issues and events that concern me most at this time:

• how people with greater needs are treated, especially those people with mental illness, addiction, chronic physical illnesses
• what happens to people with few financial means
• the sand mining issue, especially as it relates to water quality, public health, people's livelihoods and their ability to enjoy their own homes and land
• health care access for people of few means, limited or no health insurance, and significant needs, while the health care systems engage in an "arms race" of competitive building programs that raise health care costs for all
• glorification of greed, selfishness, and wealth (old name was Mammon)
• trivialization of the dignity and potentials of people, focusing on superficialities
• the ugliness and noise of too much of everyday life 
• increased destruction of habitats for other species, landforms (hills, rivers, creeks), and environmental beauty
• increased yearning on the part of many for more beauty, meaning, love and kindness, as well as connection with others and with the natural world, especially with the "plant people," the "bird people," and the "four-leggeds."