Two more thoughts on Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring"...
The book was first published in 1962, and the science and understanding of cell-level processes has moved on hugely in the last 50 years. But Carson's description of e.g. the specialised roles of enzymes in mitochondria, and small facts like bone marrow producing 10 million red blood cells per second (the current estimate is 2.4 million) highlight again for me how "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139.14; NRSV).
And a quote:"Responsible public health officials have pointed out that the biological effects of chemicals are cumulative over long periods of time, and that the hazard to the individual may depend on the sum of the exposures received throughout his [sic] lifetime. For these reasons the danger is easily ignored. It is human nature to shrug off what may seem to us a vague threat of future disaster." As with chemicals, so with climate change. Are we in danger of becoming the proverbial frog that, when placed in a pot of cold water that is gradually heated, doesn't realise its peril and is boiled alive? Or do we observe nature carefully, and learn that real frogs would probably jump out of the pot... and so could we?
Between September 2010 and September 2011, I lived alongside an Anglican Benedictine community of monks and nuns. In November 2010, we moved from Broad Marston Manor near Evesham to Mucknell Abbey, a new eco-monastery near Worcester. This blog was about things that I observed and things that interested me. I have now stopped writing it. Thank you to all who were also interested.
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