September 6, 2012

I will be speaking next week at a fireside in a neighboring stake. The topic is “Environmental Stewardship and Mormon Belief.” I have written and spoken about this topic for 14 years. I don’t suppose I can talk about it enough. I believe that the gospel of Christ contains all truth, that all topics are relevant and important to consider. There is almost no topic I am not interested in reading and talking about with others, especially when it concerns... Read more

August 31, 2012

If you care about the religious values of a political candidate, it is because you believe there is some direct correlation between how and who they worship and what policies they would espouse. Even more specifically, it is because you have a theory about the reliability of that correlation. What is your theory? My experience tells me there is little evidence that what one believes or does not believe about the nature of God or how one chooses to worship... Read more

August 29, 2012

Home Waters is a blog that is occasionally dedicated to policy issues, particularly as they pertain to environmental health, but I generally steer away from politics, especially partisan politics. I wrote about my feelings regarding politics here. But I am a political animal, and I certainly believe it is vital to be informed and active as a citizen in a democracy. I am not one who yearns for the chance to wade into the waters of contemporary debates about Mitt... Read more

August 21, 2012

On our final day, we spent the morning listening to a wonderful explication of Buddhist thought and its relevance to our environmental worldview and behavior from Tom. His emphasis was on the importance of “taking time to notice,” learning to live with less ego and selfish desire, and avoiding excess. He offered a critique from Wendell Berry of American rugged individualism and emphasized instead the value of a more interdependent and less selfish conception of existence. Western culture, he argued,... Read more

August 20, 2012

We spent the morning sitting outside in the sunshine, sharing our nature writing with one another. As I said, I didn’t have any particular expectations about this exercise, at least in terms of the quality of thought and expression we would hear, only because I knew this was not a writing workshop and there was no expectation that participants had or wanted any experience with writing. What stunned me was how heart-felt and honest and brave the writing was. We... Read more

August 19, 2012

We began the second day discussing the art of nature writing. Tom had asked the day before, “Who do you think you are?” I asked: “Where do you think you are?” I suggested that nature writing is a kind of reconnaissance, an exercise in inhabitation, or as Annie Dillard puts it, an exploration of the neighborhood. Of course other art forms work to this end as well, but nature writing is a terrific way to literally ground your thinking and... Read more

August 18, 2012

I have been in Centennial Valley in Montana, a very remote and marvelously beautiful valley that lies some 40 miles or so west of West Yellowstone and that is home to the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Bird Refuge and the Environmental Humanities Education Center. I have been honored to co-facilitate a workshop on Ecospirituality with Reverend Tom Goldsmith of the Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City. I wish to share some of what has transpired at this wonderful event.... Read more

August 13, 2012

When faced with the extremism of Pharisees, I know it is common to insist that love is more important than obedience and that the spirit is more important than the letter, but it is unfortunate that such positions so often result in a lax attitude about taking commandments seriously. As opposed as he was to fanatics, Christ never preached love at the expense of obedience. Sometimes the spirit of the law requires more intense conformity than we thought. Christ said... Read more

August 9, 2012

It is fair and important to look at the institutional church and ask, “Are the cultural aspects of our particular Mormon moment the sum total of what the church or the gospel is? Is this all the institution is capable of? Has it made its full usefulness to the world evident?” And clearly the answer has to be no. This is not a heretical thing to say. Quite the contrary. It is akin to asking, “Is my idea or understanding... Read more

August 5, 2012

I wish to post a series of thoughts extracted and revised from a letter I once wrote to a very thoughtful and beloved student. I share these excerpts in the hope that they provide edification and insight for anyone needing such. By way of confession, I think it is fair to say that, despite many liberal tendencies, I also have a cautious and conservative disposition. I move back and forth, almost like a perpetual tide, between a desire to see... Read more

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