When I first learned about use of worms in growing from Growing Power some years ago I was fascinated and thought I had learned something new and dynamic. However, over the years, especially visiting Guatemala and India, I have learned that using worm castings is an ancient and traditional way to enhance growing.
As I become older, I learn more and more that there is “not much new under the sun”, as they say. With this knowledge my respect for elders, people who have come before me and struggled for some of the same issues, like peace and justice, has grown. Also my appreciation of history has grown. There is so much we can learn from the past and, if we do not learn it, we are doomed to make the same mistakes over and over again.
Now that I am a near elder, at 67 years of age, I am finding that young people today do not have as much respect for elders and past as I do. Maybe this is the way it always has been, but the disrespect and neglect of young persons, particularly in the peace and justice community, does bother me.
There was an incident today in an email exchange with a young person, who considers himself to be a leader and organizer in the local peace movement. Fortunately I had a chance to get some sun and soil therapy today, working in the garden, so that the brashness and disrespect of this young person did not bother me as much as it could have.
Also today a friend, close in age, an almost near elder, had some surgery in the hospital. I was trying to think of a “get well message” to send him and thought I would send out an email of a web page that has his pledge for No Moore War Spending on it. This friend is passionate about peace and justice but is wise enough to know that in some small way we can make a difference and not to ‘dismiss’ persons he does not agree with, as so many persons do. So I sent out an email for my friend with a request to sign the pledge he seeks at No Moore War Spending.
I guess one thing you learn with age is that persistent effort pays off and that although one might not change the world, we can make a difference with a change of heart, one person at a time. The wisdom of age knows, like my friend, that one person can make a difference.
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