Behold The Earth » Christians

The Ark Story

davidconover — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:22:58 +0000

A rich opportunity…the Ark story, retold, thousands of years old, revisited as a base of dialogue among scientists and people of faith.

All of life sampled in one ship. One ship, with no apparent means of moving about. No sails. No engine. Only its own surface area, being pushed around by wind and water. All of life aboard, including humanity. Each trying to protect itself, carve out a niche. Some stronger than others. Some louder. Some more persistent. Others more patient. Some visible. Most not.

We focus on this ship. Why was it built? What runs it? Where has it come from? Where is it going? Can a steady course be steered long enough to avoid the common shoals ahead? Or is it there that we will rest, while the water recedes, life jumps ship, and we wait for the seas to rise again?

Sungolds

davidconover — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:00:38 +0000

Considering the workings of dialogue among those people who work with the new biology and those of faith, while preparing the soil for this season’s family vegetable garden. Last year, a blight took out the tomato crop. This year I imagine the sungolds from years past.

Sunday Screening at Smithsonian

davidconover — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:09:20 +0000

I will be screening clips and speaking about this work-in-progress BEHOLD THE EARTH on Sunday at 2:45pm, at the Baird Auditorium of the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History. Please come if you are in the Washington area this weekend and curious to learn what the production is all about.

The talk and screening is part of the US Environmental Film Festival, in its 18th year. For those of you who are enthusiasts for films about the people/nature connection, there are 155 diverse films screening between March 16th and 28th. Special programs exist for children and are marked by a family-friendly symbol in the festival program.

Leaf by Leaf, Page by Page

davidconover — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:49:17 +0000

Lately, I’ve found myself noticing the “layers” of the outdoors. Like the accumulated rippling form of a tree fungus in my photograph below. Or a sea shell’s calcifications. Or the rings of a recently cut white pine tree trunk. Ring around ring. Leaf by leaf. Layered like pages of a book. I never really thought about reading the natural world -literally and figuratively- like a book, until I spoke with Cal DeWitt. His two-books theology refers to his two most significant books. One is the Bible. The other is what he calls “the book of Creation.” He spoke to me of the peat that lies at the base of his marsh. Layers upon layers of peat, like pages of a book stretching back in time, recording the stories of history. Each page to be read and studied in much the same way he studies the bible, chapter and verse. Unlike Cal, for me the pages of Creation are not directly connected to the pages of the Bible other than through the people who have discovered, considered, and sustained rich meaning in both. I want to learn more about this meaning, an integral part of American identity with layers all of its own. How is it part of our divorce -and our connection- with the outdoors in the past, present, and future?

Dragonflies at 120 frames/ sec

davidconover — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:11:21 +0000

We achieved decent results with the RED camera, and its maximum frame record rate of 120/ sec. I am looking to bump this frame up to 1,000 or more, when we have access to dragonflies again. At this latitude, we are well past that point. Our next dragonfly shoot will be with a PHANTOM camera and lots of sun. We now know our subject. More from Cal DeWitt on the dragonflies of his marsh in the next post.

Safina – Regard the Unborn

davidconover — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:56:17 +0000

Often, in a consideration of America’s future relationship with nature, environmentalists are prone to evoke today’s children, and even the children yet-to-be-born. I’ve heard comments like “What will the future earth look like?” or “Think of the children.” The follow-up question of “what to think” about those children, of “what to think” about those yet-to-be-born is not often explored nor expressed. Theo Colborn does it. And in the clip below, Carl Safina takes this question of “what to think of the unborn” head on.

This word, the Creation

davidconover — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:26:19 +0000

Ever consider the meaning of the word creation? What does it mean to you? I asked this question of Cal DeWitt, who considers its meaning in the context of his faith. His reply in the video clip below. I’ve also asked the question of E.O. Wilson, and most recently of Carl Safina, who each replied in the context of their secular world-view. Safina’s reply will be featured in my next blog entry.

Get Outside

davidconover — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:16:27 +0000

“If you had as much fun stuff to do inside when you were a kid, you’d have been inside more too!” This is a memorable comment from an eleven year old boy to his father, an accomplished fisherman and outdoorsman here on the coast of Maine. That father is a friend of mine. His son, a friend of my son’s. Often, I’ve found myself mulling over its significance, within my own household. Pretty astute comment, actually. Aside from the lure of television, not much interesting DID happen inside when we were kids.

To care, we need to know. To know, we need to experience. If we cannot get outside enough, how will we ever care? Sometimes, a creative solution can bridge the generational and media gaps within a family. Like the one that the pastor Tri Robinson writes about in a chapter called The Garden Shed: Practical Ideas (from his book Saving God’s Green Earth).

“I asked people to enlarge personal pictures of them enjoying the outdoors and bring them to church for display in our lobby for an art exhibit. If people didn’t have any pictures, I encouraged them to get out there so they could take some.” Another way of knowing and talking about what’s happening outside.

E. O. Wilson – Scientific Literacy

davidconover — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:32:31 +0000

I am reminded of what Cal DeWitt said to me about science. “Science is a way of knowing, a process, not a body of knowledge in its own right.” Many are in consensus on this point, but this agreement is often overlooked or misunderstood in the essential dialogue that needs to happen between scientists and people of faith. People of faith, of course, look at faith as a way of knowing the world -in part- but also as much, much more. This clip from Ed Wilson is a thought on how science can address the human degradations of the earth.

It seems that science, as a procedure-of-observation, should be considered the essential map of WHAT changes are happening and WHAT to do to about them. But I believe that scientific information alone will not reverse the ways that humans are wrecking the planet. Faith communities are essential for this reversal to happen.

Carl Safina, Caring about the Ocean

davidconover — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:49:36 +0000

Pardon the break in blogging…. now back. Our inquiry into America’s divorce from nature takes us squarely to the discussion of how to talk about nature, how to talk about the Creation, in language that makes sense to all involved. Two weeks ago, co-producer Josie Merck and I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Carl Safina. This was my second conversation with Carl. He is a keen thinker and writer who helps communicate the observations and conclusions of scientists who are working with the world’s oceans. Trained as a scientist himself, Carl understands this community and the significance of scientific procedure and findings. Our interview took place on the beach of Long Island Sound in front of the house of one of Carl’s gracious neighbors. We were way out at the tip of Long Island, near the town of Montauk. These are waters Carl has also spent a lot of time exploring as a fisherman.

Anyone who fishes or hunts or spends a lot of time outside knows the importance of patient observation. To care, no other training is required. If patient observation is done repeatedly by many people, in many different conditions, many common points of reference begin to emerge. On the ocean, these reference points might be noticing what fish show up in what waters…or… how often? What happens after a big rainfall? These kinds of common references are why experienced fishermen can talk with experienced marine biologists. If either has NOT put in the time outdoors, the conversation suffers and breaks down. Fishermen and scientists can also talk with people of faith about the ocean. If both care about Creation, and care enough to put in the time to know it, the conversation is fruitful. More than fruitful, I believe. This dialogue is essential. The right thing to do.

Carl shared the following with us:
“What is our relationship with the rest of what “IS” ? with the rest of Creation -if you wish- or the rest of the universe? Scientists are still trying to figure that out. Religious people are still trying to figure that out. The divergence has come because some scientists think that the answers and explanations don’t include a theological component. But what we’re really interested in still has a lot of overlap.”