Conversations with Calliope- Peace for Planet Earth

(Nantucket Sunrise)

Life is all about stewardship. It all belongs to God - he just loans it to us for a short period of time. The first command God gave to man was to take care of the Earth, which includes managing and protecting the environment.~Rick Warren

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. What's on your mind today?
JOE: I've been thinking about the newsletter I published this weekend about peace and how we can achieve it.
CALLIOPE: Yes?
JOE: My focus was on how we approach each other. I neglected to say anything about how we approach the earth itself.
CALLIOPE: Tell me.
JOE: It's like I'm suggesting people treat each other with respect and then go trash their homes.
CALLIOPE: You think it's that bad?
JOE: When we allow the earth to poison its inhabitants due to the way we treat it, I think it is that bad.
CALLIOPE: What can you do about it?
JOE: I think of John the Baptist, the voice of one crying in the desert.
CALLIOPE: That's how you feel?
JOE: Sometimes I do. Many people are beginning to take environmental concerns seriously while others poo-poo them.
CALLIOPE: Getting upset won't help.
JOE: I realize that. I guess I can just keep doing my part. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- Decisions, Decisions

(On the Beach)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: No complaints. How about you?
CALLIOPE: I have one. You told me yesterday that you would share your column idea about seventh generation decisions and you didn't.
JOE: My apologies. The idea came from an Iroquois tradition which formed part of their Great Law.
CALLIOPE: Which was?
JOE: "In every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the seventh generation."
CALLIOPE: An interesting thought. Tell me more.
JOE: I have been concerned and written before about the cult of immediacy. We need to have everything right away and don't stop to consider the consequences.
CALLIOPE: Such as?
JOE: Destroying the earth's resources and leaving a pile of toxic garbage in our wake.
CALLIOPE: Have you been reading about it?
JOE: Yes. Lester Brown lays out the problem and proposes solutions in his book Plan B 2.0.
CALLIOPE: I'd like to see what you have to say about it.
JOE: You can read my thoughts in this weekend's Sliding Otter News at http://www.slidingotter.com/sliding_otter_news.html. Talk with you tomorrow

Conversations with Calliope- Health and Environment

(Seaside)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. What's up today?
JOE: I'm taking a break from wrestling with technology.
CALLIOPE: What brought that on?
JOE: My commitment to writing a column and newsletter for the coming Saturday.
CALLIOPE: Do you have a topic in mind?
JOE: I do.
CALLIOPE: And?
JOE: I want to write about how our concern about finances and health intersect with the way we treat our earth.
CALLIOPE: It sounds like a task for a lifetime rather than a column.
JOE: I agree. Still I want to address it. The problem is how to say something meaningful in 500 words.
CALLIOPE: Quite a challenge. How do you plan to approach it?
JOE: That's what I have been pondering. Maybe I will present it as one of my life mysteries and just open up the topic.
CALLIOPE: That would be a start. Nobody seems to be thinking much about these connections.
JOE: I'll get my mental wheels turning and see what happens. Talk with you tomorrow.

Creating Positive Energy

Many years ago when I was studying physics, I learned that energy is never lost in the universe. It is possible to change energy from one form to another but not possible to create or destroy it. It was a bit difficult for me to understand. It seemed to me that machines as well as people could run out of energy. The reality is that they just run out of fuel until they are resupplied. If we can't create energy, we can at least change it from positive to negative energy or from negative to positive energy. Through our efforts we can make our immediate emotional environment toxic for those who come near us or energizing for them instead. What do you want to share with others?