"One hundred years from now, as people look back on
our use of this continent, we shall not be praised for our
reckless use of its oil, nor the loss of our forests;
we shall be heartily damned for all these things.
But we may take comfort in the knowledge that we
shall certainly be thanked for the national parks."

~Secretary of the Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur, 1931

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Day 4: June 20, 2007 - The Importance of Love and Compassion

Another reason to decrease the amount of car gasoline and other fuels/oils that you use: 25 % of America's oil comes from off-shore Louisiana oil rigs (of which they get no taxes--it goes entirely to the federal goverment--and therefore are the 2nd-poorest state in the US, Mississippi being poorest).


Glenn, a seven-year-old at Art Camp, in the feature of my thoughts today. I spent seven hours, rotating through five hour-long crafts activities with the Blue Group. I only felt really needed in a couple of the classes, but in the other 3 I surely made use of my presence. I basically took to one-on-one mentoring Glenn, talking with him, asking him what he thought, trying to convey the concepts that he just didn't understand, or give him a task that he could understand.

The most shocking moment was when Glenn's father arrived to pick him up--late. With all do respect to the family, the child froze (with a smile on his face, but didn't seem to know to move his legs). A split second earlier, this seemingly nerdy, quiet, somewhat spacey child has been loose and moving around and tossing the frisbee with me (he has a great throw for a 7 year old!). I can't help but think of the book Dibs In Search of Self by Virginia M. Axline. This book is about a child who is diagnosed as probably autistic, but as the author-psychologist works with the child and grows his confidence, she determines that, frankly, the parents do not act as if they love their child. I hope someone loves Glenn.

At dinner, which we have every night at Hands On Base with most everyone living there, short-termers, medium-termers, and long-termers alike. At the end of announcements, we recognize folks that are leaving. Tonight, a young man named George was departing. He has been here for 8 months, and without question he has impacted many souls. I feel--honored?-- that I was able to witness the careful words and articulated emotions conveying love, compassion, thanks, and awe to this young architect/builder. There are so many wonderful people in this big, bad world, and I appreciate the opportunity to have even a little bit of their time (even though I never knew George, and I only got to hear stories about him).

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