Does Disney Reflect the Habits of Creation?

We went to Disney World to celebrate my granddaughter's 5 th birthday. I was having difficulty answering the question, where do I see one of the four "habits" being lived out in this fantasy world of make believe. Was it even worth trying? It was great fun amid the man made adventures and thrills; like living in a made up world that delights and tantalizes the senses with every turn.

It wasn't until the parade that any connection became apparent. This year's theme at Disney is "celebration". Come and celebrate with us! If it is your birthday you get free admission to the park and allowed to get on the rides first. Everyone, seeing the Happy Birthday button, announces "Happy Birthday" as you pass by! The parade was large floats of animals and colors and lots of dancing characters. Parade goers were encouraged to join in dancing right on the street.

Next we attended the Lion King production in Animal Kingdom. Again, large floats with animated creatures of the jungle were propelled onto the stadium floor as dancers and acrobats careened from overhead onto the stage. The lights dimmed and the evil spirits of the dark world were avenged by good animal characters once again bringing light to the world and joy to the heart.

Life is a celebration. Nature celebrates with every season and every blooming. Humankind has always copied nature arranging it's festivals around the changing seasons. And when creation shows its dark side; when we couldn't explain the catastrophe we acted them out in dance and rituals. This is how we have always coped. We have celebrated.

Celebrating Community with ElderSpirit

It has been a delight to share life with the folks at ElderSpirit for the last several months. ElderSpirit at Abingdon, Virginia is an intentional community of elders who are living together and supporting one another as they age.  They contacted me for assistance creating a series of rituals centered in the natural world.  The rituals were to be interfaith and have a spiritual focus.  The Harvest Festival was the second event and celebrated not only the harvest but the local farmers.  I didn't count but there must have been at least 50 people who attended with half coming from ElderSpirit and the rest from the local community.  We gathered in the Spirit House for singing, readings, and sharing of harvest experiences.  (I shared about my butternut squash which you read about in an earlier posting.)  Then we blessed the gardens and gathered outside to paint pumpkins, faces, make corn husk dolls, and gourd birdhouses.  A light supper was served with most offerings made of either corn or pumpkin.  You can experience some of the fun in the video posted above.  To learn more about ElderSpirit go to www.elderspirit.net.

Thanks to all the folks at ElderSpirit who made this year's Harvest Festival a day which I will never forget.  It was simply FUN!

A Word About the Ecological Principles

You may be wondering where I came up with the four ecological principles and why I started calling them "habits".


In 1994 a workshop called, Habits of Creation, was developed under the authorship of the Ecological Working Group of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond.  It's purpose was to "engage people in an active learning process about ecology, faith and justice in order to help them take effective action in their own lives and communities.  It was reviewed by Fr. Thomas Berry because much of the material included in it came from his writings.  It is my understanding that the main authors of the workshop were Anthony Flaccavento and Sr. Clare McBrian who worked in the Appalachian Office of Justice and Peace.


My first introduction to the workshop was in 2007 when I began work as the ecological educator for the Diocese of Richmond.  The workshop format was quite useful because it brought together the church teachings on caring for creation as well as an increased understanding of current issues and a call to take action. I have given the workshop many times over the past two years and adapted it to the location and age group who would be attending.


Following the thread of references given in the original document of the workshop took me to three books:  Dream of the Earth by Thomas Berry; The Universe Story by Brian Swimme & Berry; and What Are People For Essays by Wendell Berry.  The authors of these books have discussed three of the four principles that I now call "habits".


It occurred to me that learning to live by these principles would be a fine place to start a life long journey in living a sustainable life style.  This is why I write this blog; it's not just to tell people about what I do but to help me grow in my own understanding and sustain me as I attempt to develop healthy habits of my own.

Regenerating the Soil: One Worm at a Time

Everything living dies.  Everything that dies is regenerated.  Regeneration is the third ecological principle.  Through the death and decay of plants and animals and the erosion of minerals, all material is recycled in the natural system, regenerating fertility and life.  Many of these interactions involve decay or death.  In a healthy ecosystem, none of this death is wasted because it will lead to new life or regeneration.

I raise composting earthworms and every time that lid is removed from their home (a plastic storage bin) the principle of death, decay and regeneration is on display.  Into the bin go the day's food scraps (especially heavy during summer growing season).  My worms really love coffee grounds; it must be the caffeine that seems to make them hyper.  Another favorite are peach peelings.  They work hard at egg shells but don't seem to get very far unless I really crunch them up before adding.

Someone asked me to what animal I felt most connected and I'd have to admit, it is earthworms.  Can you see them in the picture?  Get up close and take a look.  You've never observed such busy creatures. they take care of all my kitchen scraps regenerating it into the BEST fertilizer you would ever want to add to your garden.  Even better are all the volunteer seedlings you get:  squash, tomatoes, and more.  Every tomato and butternut squash in the garden this year were volunteers from the worm castings.

There's nothing like getting up close and personal with nature.  Seeing how she operates.  If only we human were half that smart about the way we do things.

Butternut Squash will Grow in Trees

But they have a hard time of it.  If you have been following my postings you will know that Ralph, the butternut squash was intwined up the dogwood tree to make room in the flower bed. Ralph continued to grow and when it was time to pick him he was so firmly lodged in the tree that I had to cut him out.  We ate him last night.  My guests have a difficult time eating anything that has a name.  We had a potluck supper of local food.  Ralph was made into the squash casserole with feta cheese and pecans.  We are very grateful to Ralph.

FrontPorch Fridays

This is a great neighborhood.  On crisp fall mornings when all the cars have pulled out and headed for work, children's voices can be heard from the bus stops.   It's then that the stay-at-homers may gather on front porches and chat before beginning daily chores.  It's not unusual to be cutting grass in the yard and to have a kindly soal offering to help or when a yard tool is broken and the weeds are getting very high.  One neighbor has a tiller which faithfully tills each vegetable garden on the block.  We share tomatoes in the summer, snow shovels in the winter, newspapers, garden tips, and sometimes meals.


This summer we have started FrontPorch Fridays.  The entire block is invited to gather on my front porch.  If you see me at 6:00 on Friday, come on up and I'll give you a glass of wine.  If you don't drink wine bring your own; it's mostly about conversation.  We talk about the weather, some politics, families, but mostly we talk about the neighborhood.  Who has lived here the longest.  How the second house on the left looked twenty years ago.  What happened the year of the flood.  We love it when the newest neighbors join in.  That's when we can share the most about the neighborhood.  We love our neighborhood!

The second principle of creation is interconnectedness or community.  As we look at all living beings we recognize the need to be connected.  All creatures in a given natural community are interconnected with one another and with the elements that sustain them.  Creation as a whole functions as a living, maturing system.  Just as every part of a living body is in communion with every other part, so everything in the universe is in communion with everything else in the universe.  All that exists is interdependent and interrelated in an unbroken bond of communion.  As humans we need to be connected to others (our families, friends, neighborhoods) as well as the natural environment around us.

I see our neighborhood as an example of a natural community.  We know that by being interconnected, supporting one another, accepting one another in all our similarities as well as differences, we function more effectively.  It's a happy way to live.  We are living out the principle of interconnectedness and the FrontPorch Fridays are one way of strengthening our community.  Besides, it's a lot of FUN!

The Enchantment of Diversity

Baptisms at our church are wondrous!  This morning I stood as the procession entered and was enchanted by the obvious diversity of color and texture that the participants brought to our parish family.  Our Lady of Nazareth Church is pretty homogeneous: white middle class American suburbia.  But this morning we welcomed two infants into the waters of baptism and as members of our parish family.  What diversity they brought not only in skin color, language, and culture, but also in dress.  The women of the African immigrant family wore the traditional dress of their country, bright reds, pinks, yellows and green with intricate textures handmade by skilled dressmakers.  Fabric was wrapped and tucked, smocked and pleated to fit around the body.  The effect was dazzling.

I reflected on the beauty we find in diversity.  The many shades of green on the mountain sides; the wide array of colors found in flowers as they bloom throughout the season.  Diversity is the first of the ecological principles.  All nature is made up of many species of animals, plants, insects, and living things we cannot even see.  The more different life forms there are in a given place, the healthier is that place.  It is God's plan.

1Corinthians 12:12  As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.....There are many parts but one body. 


It's the same for us, the more different kinds of people, the healthier are our communities.  When we wrap our arms around all our differences, learning to love and share our gifts, we grow strong together.

Cooking Butternut Squash

In any recipe winter squash, sweet potato or pumpkin can be replaced with butternut squash. Use it in pies, puddings, and main dishes.  

One special way I like to serve it is with feta cheese.

Butternut Squash with Feta Cheese

1 medium butternut squash, cooked and peeled

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup toasted pecan halves

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Place all ingredients in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees until hot. This can be served as a main dish and is especially good in winter.

Cooking Butternut Squash

My favorite way to eat butternut squash is as a soup.  Here is my recipe.

Butternut Squash and Carrot soup

1 small to medium butternut squash

2 cups thinly sliced carrot (4 medium)

3/4 cup thinly sliced leek or chopped onion

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

2 cups chicken broth (vegetable broth is quite acceptable)

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 cup half-and-half or light cream, or milk

1. Cut squash in half and remove seeds.  Put seeds in compost pile if you want volunteers in your garden next season.  Put it in a baking pan with about a half inch of water and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Bake squash at 350 degrees until it is tinder.  Let cool and peel away the skin.  Dice into chunks and set aside.

2.  Saute onions and carrots in butter in a medium saucepan until they are beginning to be soft.  Add squash, pepper, and nutmeg.  Blend until smooth.  If using a blender do only one cup at a time.  The mixture is hot and there is a possibility of being burned if one is trying to do too much at a time.  I use a hand held blender which I find very suited for cream soups.

3.  Add cream or milk and chicken broth and gently heat.  Serve at once and ENJOY!

Butternut squash is low in fat (until you add the cream) and very rich in vitamins.  When stored in a cool place (not freezing), it will last all winter.  Your family will never go hungry when you grow butternut squash.

Will Squash Grow on Trees?

I love butternut squash!  It grows almost wild in my garden because the seeds I put into my worm composting bin come up voluntarily every season.  I have squash all over my garden and also in my flower beds.  This summer Ralph, I name my squash plants, took over the flower bed.  When I say take over, I mean, he grew everywhere, even outside the defines of the bed, over the pathways, down beside the house and into the patio.  So I was about to pull him out when I saw not one but two about to mature squash.  They had been hidden under the leaves.  So I decided to see if he would grow when twined up into the dogwood tree.  

The question is.....will squash grow in trees?  I applied the ecological principle of interiority.  Every living thing and every natural element has interiority, that is they are endowed by the Creator with both a sacredness and an integrity, a wisdom of their own.  Would Ralph, as a squash plant, know how to grow in a tree? 

After a month, I decided that yes, despite the fact a squash plant has not twining abilities, no small clinging tentacles to allow it to attach to a surface, with my help it would grow in the tree.  So the one squash which I carefully nestled in the joint of two limbs matured, turned yellow and it was time to harvest.   I reached for it, tried to lift it from it's nest only to find that it had grown into the limbs of the tree itself.  The only way I can harvest Ralph's offspring is to cut it in half where it rests and take it out in pieces.