A Gift from the Sea

Eleanor Rae

With only the moon and the stars for light, we watch silently as a huge dark mass emerges from the Atlantic Ocean. With great effort, she pulls her enormous bulk across the sand on the beach in Suriname. She is a leatherback sea turtle, coming on shore to dig the nest, into which she will deposit over one hundred eggs. Upon completing this arduous task, she will work diligently tocamouflage the nest and then pull herself back into the ocean. She disappears, her work complete. After the warmth of sand and sun has done its part, the tiny hatchlings work their way out of the nest and scurry into the ocean. It is estimated that only one in one hundred will survive into adulthood.  

I was in Suriname in May for a week as a volunteer with the Oceanic Society. Our task was twofold—  to measure, tag and check for wounds on all of the leatherback turtles we could find and to move to high ground the nests that were considered dangerously below the tide line—in order to enhance the hatchlings chance of survival. Our work was long and exhausting, but the turtles gave me two gifts that will remain with me forever. The first was the sight of a group of hatchlings making their way to the ocean. Each was the size of a large coin but they were truly miniatures of their one-thousand pound mothers. Males will never again be seen on land. The other gift was being able to touch and lie next to the mother as she was at work. I marveled at the beauty of her black carapace and huge flippers, which were covered with white spots. When her work was complete, I was able to gaze at her face and see the large pink spot that is unique to each of her kind. I touched, and was touched by, 150 million years of living history.

 The leatherback is one of only seven remaining species of sea turtles and the only one left in its genus. You may or may not feel drawn to work with leatherbacks as I was, but there is something we can all do to increase the chances of survival for this endangered species. Shrimp fishing practices are one of the reasons their number is in such sharp decline, so if you are not ready to stop eating shrimp altogether, you can encourage your markets to buy only those caught with nets equipped with turtle exclusion devices. The benefit is that if the turtles can escape, it leaves room for even more shrimp—a win-win situation. Turtles breathe air and will drown if held under water in nets—or, as often happens, if only one huge flipper is caught, the fishermen will cut it off, “freeing” the turtle to bleed to death. These turtles deserve to continue their lives, which have already graced planet Earth for so many millions of years.

TALISMAN

Dianalee Velie

                    The key chain demanded,

                    Keep on Smiling,

                    a simple silver slogan

                    in a box of your belongings,

                    holding the key

                    to the beginning

                    of healing,

                    opening the door

                    to promising tomorrows,

                    a requiem request,

                    we have no choice,

                    but to try and honor.

While the world waited in fear on the evening of September 5, 2002, wondering if there would soon be another terrorist attack on our country to mark the anniversary of September 11, I made my daily phone call to my son, Joe, and his young family in Coconut Grove, Florida. They were curled up watching football, and Joe was packing for a business trip to Atlanta the following morning. Joe and his wife, Currie-Hill, were at the pinnacle of happiness: they had a successful events business, a charming new home, a bright handsome son, and a new baby on the way.  

I spoke to my two-year-old grandson, Little Joe (Joseph John Velie IV), and he responded to my usual litany of questions: “Who loves you?” I asked. “Nonna,” he laughed. “How old are you, Little Joe?”  “Two,” he replied.  “Where do you live?”  “Florida.” What do you want to be when you grow up?” “Doctor.” I swelled with pride at his vocabulary, then talked to my daughter-in-law. She was expecting Jack Jasper Velie (named after my Dad), who was to be born early in October. 

That was the last time I ever talked to Currie-Hill or Little Joe. I never got to meet Jack. The next morning our world shattered and the systems designed to help us appeared broken beyond repair. 

On September 6, 2002, my beautiful daughter-in-law and beloved grandsons were murdered in their home. This brutal murder devastated my son’s life, my life, my daughter’s life and the lives of Currie-Hill’s family. Through the arduous and anguishing process that followed, our families eventually worked out a plea agreement, whereby the confessed murderer pleaded guilty. We spared his life by requesting that the prosecution drop the death penalty in lieu of this agreement, sparing us the horror of reliving those events through a trial. The agreement was signed on March 17, 2005, nearly two and a half years after the murders—with no trial date as yet even assigned! 

I wrote my second book of poetry, First Edition, which was published in April 2005, in honor of my daughter-in-law and my grandsons. It is my hope that it will provide validation and comfort to families who have experienced the terrible injustice of losing loved ones through senseless violence, and to illuminate a single darkened path on anyone’s journey through grief. I documented our  journey—the shock, deep descent into grief, reluctant acceptance, and slow crawl back towards life—in the only way I knew how, through poetry. It is a journey no one should have to experience, never mind alone, or without the wisdom of one (or many) who have gone before. 

One dollar from the sale of each copy of First Edition will be donated directly to The Velie Memorial Fund, Inc., which has as its mission the design, development and building of a public playground in Newbury, NH, the town to which Currie-Hill’s parents had moved and where my daughter-in-law thought I should relocate. Now, it is the town where my son, Joe, and I rebuild our lives.  

On their many visits to Newbury, my young family had found that the only thing missing was a wonderful playground for children. It became our dream, then, to give the town such a park—in their memory. To date we have raised almost $90,000 of the estimated $250,000 needed. Friends, relatives, and strangers have been moved to offer time and money to help us make this playground a reality. Above all, I have been told that First Edition has been comforting to many people in various stages of grief. 

First Edition, by Dianalee Velie may be purchased from Rock Village Publishing, 41 Walnut Street, Middleborough, MA 02346, (508) 946-4738.  Cost: $16.00 plus $2.00 for P/H. Tax-deductible donations can be made directly to The Velie Memorial Fund, Inc. PO Box 290, Newbury, NH 03255. 

                                                           Little Joe                                                             Currie-Hill

Associates of C:WED:

Eleanor Rae, Ph.D., founder

Giles E. Rae, publisher

Anne Andersson, editor

Representatives at the United Nations:

       New York: Rosalyn Dischiavo

                          Lina Gupta, Ph.D.

                                  Alayne O’Reilly, Ph.D.

       Vienna: Susanne Schaup, Ph.D.

Mission Statement

 The Center for Women, the Earth, the Divine is dedicated to exploring the parallels that exist between the imaging and treatment of women and of the Earth, and how our images of the Divine are related to these parallels.

     We began by exploring these relationships within the context of our own tradition--the Christian. While we continue our exploration in this tradition, we have also engaged people of other traditions such as the Buddhist, Goddess, Hindu, Indigenous, Jewish and Muslim. Our work is made available through talks, workshops, writings and retreats. The immediate purpose of the Center is educational, while the ultimate goal is the healing of the Creation.

                               ————————————

     The founder of C:WED is Eleanor Rae, Ph.D., author of Women, the Earth, the Divine, President Emerita of the North American Coalition for Christianity and Ecology and founder of the United Nations Earth Values Caucus.

                     ——————————————————                                

                     Spirituality is Out of the Closet

                          At the United Nations

                                Alayne O'Reilly

A dozen years ago, a friend introduced me to the Non-Governmental Groups (NGO's) at the United Nations in New York where a preparatory meeting for the upcoming Women's Conference in Beijing was underway. Some 20 working groups on various women's issues (ranging from health to habitat) that we wanted to discuss at the conference were formed. When someone suggested "Women & Spirituality," I knew just where to focus. However, although my heart and mind were full of interest in the topic, the climate at the U. N. a dozen years ago was such that it was so politically incorrect to mention values, ethics or morality, that I was not brave enough to suggest it myself. But grab it I did, together with a Loretto nun, Pat Kenoyer, with whom I became co-facilitator of the Women & Spirituality Working Group for the 1995 Women's Conference. Sister Pat and I led a small but determined group of women in exploring spiritual issues in women's lives. Beijing officials, however, were none too pleased with our choice of topic, repeatedly claiming that no one would be interested.

Nevertheless, Eleanor Rae, our sole representative in Beijing, was assigned a large room, in which to present her workshop "Women, the Earth, and the World's Religions." Not only did the room become packed to capacity, but the corridors around the space were filled with interested attendees struggling to listen. A small step in Beijing—a giant leap for spirituality at the United Nations! Although spiritual concerns are inherent in the U.N. Charter, and have been expressed by several Secretaries-General, most notably Dag Hammarskjold ("I see no hope for permanent world peace…. Unless the world has a spiritual rebirth, civilization is doomed."), their overt expression has fallen by the wayside.

What do we mean by spirituality? It is our way of being in the world, of understanding our origin and our destiny. It is what gives meaning to our lives and guides us in making moral decisions based on universal moral principles. Spirituality, in its broader context, implies the nurturing of a holistic view of life, providing the text and ritual to facilitate the harmony of body, mind and spirit for optimum health and peaceful well-being, and providing meaning, motivation and solidarity for human rights issues. It is sorely missing in our contemporary world.

Our quest for an import of values into the U.N. also led us to found the Values Caucus in the fall of 1994 so that we might have an impact on the upcoming Social Summit in Copenhagen. Others founded the Spiritual Coalition, which unites the various spiritual interest groups. There is also a Spiritual Caucus which meets twice a month to meditate on the issues before the U.N. Recently, the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Ethics and Global Concerns from Geneva started a New York group. It is planning a workshop this fall entitled “The Spirit of the U. N.” to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations. Last, but not least, in 2001 Eleanor Rae, concerned that Earth and her creatures (in addition to humans) were not receiving due attention and concern, started the Earth Values Caucus, which I am pleased and proud to serve. We all work together, co-sponsor and support each other's events and workshops, and we are having great success in being recognized by the U.N. delegates and ambassadors for our efforts. Spirituality is no longer politically incorrect at the U.N., or in the world at large, as a growing awareness of our interdependence and interconnectedness is entering our consciousness. All that is possesses intrinsic value.

The Work for our Generation

Sean McDonagh

Each generation of humans has its own particular task to accomplish. In the early part of the 19 th century, it involved working to abolish slavery. Later in the 19 th century, the focus moved to protecting workers’ rights. These were momentous changes in human history but they could have come at a different point in time. The challenge facing this generation is quite different. It is one that has never faced a generation of humans in the past and never will be faced by a future generation of humans. This is the mass extinction of other creatures in just a few short decades. The task quite simply is to take the decisive action to stave off the extinction of species which could sterilize the planet. If this generation does not act, no future generation will be able to undo the damage that this generation has caused to the planet. It is an extraordinary and awesome moment that the behavior of a single generation of humans can have such a profound and irreversible impact, not just on human history, but on the life of the planet as well. Species extinction cannot continue with impunity. Sooner or later, extinction will rob our planet of the ability to sustain many forms of life, possibly even our own.

From Spiritearth, May 2005, Volume 15, Number Three

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