I apologized to the grass I walked on

Don’t Let Silos Derail Momentum for Parks

Oh how I love the break of dawn over the Blue Mountains through my bedroom window.

Good morning beloved Joy Train Rider! If you observe Easter, I send you the completeness of love that knows no boundaries. Whatever the spiritual tradition one follows, it should logically bring us all to a place of oneness and love because – God IS Love. I’m so grateful.

 On our journey today, I engage you to be co-conductor. There is a long tradition in American travel where conductors and porters on the train were Black men. Since around 1867 until well into the 20th century, the Pullman Porters waited on mostly-white travelers and saw to their comfort. Their lives were exotic for the times as they travelled across the country even to the dazzling American West. Two of our close friends had fathers who were Pullman Porters – and that inspired their life’s work for social justice. Artifacts and stories of the ground breaking effects of the Pullman porters and their union led by Asa Philip Randolph await your visit at the Pullman National Monument,created under President Obama in 2015.

I’m asking your help today so that my vision may be expanded, and I can see as many sides of the story as you see. I also want you to see the many sides of the story I see, so that we can come to a more representative conclusion.

When Frank and I returned from seeing the national parks in 1995, I found myself apologizing to the grass when I walked across it. “I’m so sorry. I know you don’t mind because that’s what you’re for, but I just want to let you know I appreciate you.”

Such was the level of attachment and connection I felt to the land. I still feel that way, and I am still striving to get help to let everyone know that that kind of experience is readily available to them. It is mind-blowingly transformative when you feel you belong on the Earth, that you are so small and it is so infinite, and yet you are as valuable as everything else. I feel like the world is my body, so I don’t ever want to deliberately hurt another part of creation as that is like hurting myself.

The heart-shaped sun coming through the tree at the top of the mountain shares a message of love.

At NPCA’s Salute to the Parks April 6, I called for a massive public information campaign to let the whole country know about the parks.