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In the late twentieth century there is a growing awareness that we are doomed as a species and planet unless we have a radical change of consciousness. The reemergence of the Goddess is becoming the symbol and metaphor for this transformation...[and] has led to a new earth-based spirituality." Elinor Gadon, The Once and Future Goddess
"To mark Earth Day, four women and two men stood on a hilltop outside Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, literally praying to Mother Earth. 'Sacred Earth Power, bring healing to Planet Earth,' intoned barefoot Selena Fox, priestess of Circle Sanctuary…Similar Nature worship was part of Earth Day festivals from Boston…to Berkeley…The ceremonies were part of a growing U.S. spiritual movement: Goddess worship, the effort to create a female-centered focus for spiritual expression." Richard Ostling, Time, May 1991
As a child, I loved to explore the Norwegian woods, fjords, and mountains with my father. He wanted me to fully enjoy all the wonders of nature; therefore, he would always point out the dangers as well as the delights. Before I could gather my favorite mushrooms, my father showed me how to spot poisonous ones. Before I could ski across the mountain wilderness, he taught me basic survival skills. My favorite reward was reaching the top, relishing the view, and eating the chocolates he always carried in his back pack. Heaven forbid that I should leave the wrappers behind, or fail to pick up another person’s litter.
Eager to care for God’s creatures, my friends and I turned our garage into a neighborhood animal hospital. Birds with broken wings, battle-torn cats, mangled mice and abandoned litters of newborn kittens filled towel-lined boxes along the wall. We tried to give the best emergency care possible, but our knowledge extended no further than our own personal experience. Consequently, we poured brown iodine on every sore, dripped milk down semiconscious throats, and tried to stabilize broken limbs and wings with homemade splints. Perhaps our greatest mission was to offer each animal a loving, if not comfortable, place to die —and a spot in our backyard cemetery.
I wanted to be part of God’s team of earth stewards who helped take care of His creation. I still do. But finding like-minded team members in our fast-changing culture has become complicated. The beliefs and practices associated with ecology stray far beyond biblical bounds-even in the church.
My first exposure to unbiblical environmentalism under the banner of Christianity came in 1990. I had driven to a mainline church some distance from my home to see how God’s people would celebrate Earth Day. Watching the worship, I wondered if the Creator Himself would have been welcome. At one point, the members of the youth group stepped forward to present their offerings:
“I bring to our Mother, the Earth, the gift of a new beginning…”
“I bring to our Mother , the Earth, the birth of a new consciousness.”
“I bring to our Mother, the Earth, the gift of immortality that you may live forever cherished by your beloved children.”
The congregation responded to this strange ritual with a standing ovation. Did these people know whom they worshiped? Had environmental concern swung church doors wide open to paganism? Could this really be happening in a supposedly conservative church?
Earlier in the program, a young woman minister had danced her interpretation of the Creation story. Throughout the graceful performance, a voice narrated the creative acts of a female deity referred to as “she” or “her.” At one point, “she” gave birth to earthly life —here the dancer crouched on stage and birthed an inflated globe.
Nature worship in the church? A Mother Goddess in Place of God our Father? Grieved, I thought about the spreading delusion prophesied in 2 Thessalonians [2], when lawlessness would soar and blinded followers of counterfeit wonders would “perish because they refuse to love truth,” when people would reject sound doctrine and follow teachers who tickle their ears (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Could we have reached that time?
Donald Bloesch, theology professor at Dubuque Theological Seminary seems to think so. His article in Christianity Today, “Lost in Mystical Myths,” describes the spiritual renaissance that is sweeping through churches and seminaries, bringing pagan empowerment rituals and texts such as Mother Earth Spirituality: “The new spirituality represents a kind of naturalistic mysticism, a reemergence of the ancient religion of the Earth Mother.” [3] This unholy renewal lures children as well as adults, atheists as well as Christians. No part of our culture is immune. Look at the signs of change in our schools and media.
Religion Returns to the Classroom
The ban on religion in public schools failed to block the promotion of pagan beliefs. Spiritual buzzwords like reverence —suggesting a response reserved for the Creator Himself, and connectedness – referring to pantheistic oneness rather than biological interdependence, flow through environmental teaching and songs, persuading our children to love Mother Earth instead of God our Father.
During Earth Day 1990 celebrations, children wrote poems to Our Mother, visualized her healing, used guided imagery to connect with her spirits, and committed their lives to her preservation. Students in Brainerd, Minnesota watched a video titled Spaceship Earth: Our Global Environment, the ecological portion of a global education program. A medley of Mother Earth’s ambassadors shared their beliefs:
Noel Brown, Director, UN Environmental Programme:
"We need to develop a better sense of connectedness with all of life, and when that reference is developed, I think we'll find ourselves more at home and at ease in this world."
Sting, international rock singer:
"The Indians believe that the spirits live in the trees, that the spirits live in the river, that the spirit is in the air. I think we used to believe that in the past... and... if there's a spirit in a tree, you don't just chop it down and burn it."
Girl:
"I can't separate the destruction of the earth from the destruction of myself... Because we all started out from the earth, we're all going to go back to the earth. The Native Americans called it Mother Earth, and it is."
Picture of Mother Earth wearing a gas mask:
In the same Minnesota classroom, one fifth-grader withstood the pressure to conform. In addition to the above video, his teacher celebrated Earth Day by infusing an old Gospel song with a contemporary message: "We've Got the Whole Earth in Our Hands!" Josh, who knew God as the Maker and Keeper of His creation, recognized the lie and refused to sing.
The Media and Mother Earth
Reaching far beyond schools and churches, television beams environmental spirituality right into our homes. Perhaps you watched Hollywood’s star-studded Earth Day 1990 dramatization of a dying Mother Earth. You may have welcomed her practical suggestions: recycle, reuse, reduce consumption and return to simpler living. Did you also notice a more subtle message? Wrapped in noble sentiments, it taught the basics of ancient earth-based religions: The earth lives, thinks, is our Mother, gave us life, deserves our worship.
“But,” you might ask, “people have called earth our Mother for centuries. What is wrong with that?”
Not much – some years ago. But today’s cultural climate differs. A generation ago, we viewed myths about Mother Earth as interesting fables from the past. But our time-tested filters for reality – biblical truth and scientific facts - are being replaced by wishful speculation and personal opinions. Today, anything is believable – true or not – if it feels right and supports your views.
This atmosphere breeds irrational and imaginary solutions. So when environmental leaders promote pagan nature religions as a means to connect with the earth and hear “her wisdom,” people believe them. When public schools, popular books, and the media spread this alluring message, it soon takes root in the social mind-set.
And what is that message? To save the earth, explains nature theologian Thomas Berry, “ a new descent into a more primitive state must then come about.” [5] His influential book The Dream of the Earth, the first volume in the Sierra Club’s series on nature and philosophy, explains how “a new type of religious orientation ... must emerge from our new story of the universe.” (emphasis added) [6]
Cable king Ted Turner has provided just such a “new story.” His cartoon series, Captain Planet, exemplifies the spiritual message that permeates environmental teaching. It beckons children to connect with magical forces, exercise the mind control formulas taught by contemporary witches, learns from benevolent shamans (pagan priests and healers), and trusts the wisdom of goddess Gaia, mother of all life.
It also illustrates the vision of Turner’s Better World Society: environmental consciousness with his own formula for social reform. By raising public awareness, presenting a new view of reality, and rewriting the Ten Commandments – “I promise to have love and respect for Planet Earth……” [7] instead of “I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before Me” -- he hopes to build a world of peace and oneness – without God.
Viewers of Captain Planet were told to protect the earth and fight exploitation using Gaia Power. Notice the seductive blend of environmental wisdom, cultural bias, and pagan spiritism in Episode One:
The earth shakes as Hoggish Greedly’s huge earth mover lumbers through the forest, uprooting trees and awakening beautiful goddess Gaia.
“My goodness, can’t the spirit of the earth take a little nap? What’s going on?”
She touches a crystal dome which, like a diviner’s crystal ball, fills with the image of Greedly’s oil rig.
“All. It’s those poor, silly humans again. They’re going to destroy my planet if they keep going like this. What’s a mother to do?” Scanning the earth through the crystal, she sees polluted rivers, ugly smokestacks, and barren stumps of clear-cut mountain sides.
She gasps and activates her emergency plan: the planeteers. She chooses five children from around the world, empowers them with magic rings that control earth, water, wind, and fire, then sends them out to battle evil Greedly. On the way, the fifth planeteer exercises his power, psychic telepathy, to invoke Gaia’s spiritual presence. The image of the Goddess speaks: “You must have faith in yourselves, planeteers, because you’re fighting for the good of the whole world.”
Moments later, when Greedly threatens to spray oil on coastal wildlife, the five children form a circle, focus their minds, speak their magic words, and project their powers – a standard witchcraft ritual. Captain Planet materializes in their midst and explains, “I am your powers combined and magnified!”
In the final glow of victory, the valiant superhero invites his viewers to join the crusade on behalf of the earth. His parting promise sounds almost irresistible: “THE POWER IS YOURS!”
The power is whose?
One of the lures of pagan religions if the belief that nature’s power can be harnessed by humans. That was Satan’s bait from the beginning: “You will be like God!” With a few magic formulas, all seekers can learn to manipulate the force.
But can they? Those who try eventually discover that the occult force controls them – with devastating consequences. The Apostle John explains why:
“The whole world is under the control of the evil one.” Then he points us to the only way to genuine peace and harmony: “The Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true” ( 1 John 5:10-20)
How do we respond to mixed messages such as Turner’s? Do we join his crusade but reject his power source? Or do we simply turn our backs to the whole green movement? Can Christians today share the world’s concern for the earth without compromising their faith?
Yes. But we need to ask God where He wants us. He who created the earth, and wrote the guidelines for its care, longs to show each of us what to do.
He led me to a local group called the Environmental Volunteers – men and women committed to teaching school children to know and care for God’s creation. Imagine taking a class of enthusiastic first or second graders on a nature hike along a wooded creek of through a redwood forest. All kinds of hidden mysteries spring to life. Together we explore wonders such as the camouflage colors of lizards, the tiny hook that “zip up” the slender barbs of a feather, or the biological (not spiritual) interrelationships of various parts of a natural community or ecosystem. In the process, the children learn to respect God’s creation, whether they know Him or not.
But before you jump on the environmental bandwagon, and before your children join their school’s crusade, you should prepare your family to resist spiritual deception.
Calling the Spirit of Gaia
"The call is to serve the wellbeing of the living planet, Gaia ... to enter into a holistic consciousness." (Barry McWaters, psychologist)1
"The more you contact the voice of the living Earth and evaluate what it says, the easier it will become for you to contact it and trust what it provides." (The Sierra Club’s sourcebook, Well Body, Well Earth)2
Turn ... to the living God who made heaven and earth. (Acts 14:15)
SOFT, HYPNOTIC MUSIC greeted the parents streaming into the kindergarten classroom for a back-to-school orientation. The teacher was preparing a special journey via guided imagery. She focused everyone's attention on a poster which showed doors of every size, shape, and color. As she began the visualization, her voice turned meditative and mysterious:
Imagine that you are standing at one of the doors. In just a moment the door will open and you will walk in. (Pause)
The door has opened and you are standing at the top of a stairway. Now, as I count, picture yourself walking down the stairs - ten, nine, eight, seven....
You are at the bottom of the stairs, standing in a beautiful valley. It is green, lush, and you are walking along a path. Along the side of the path you notice a milkweed plant, and as you look closer you see a caterpillar... Now you become the caterpillar. You keep eating and eating... You get very tired. You spin a cocoon around yourself and rest...
Now you have become a wonderful monarch butterfly. You are flying around ... through a rainbow....3
That visualization may seem innocent enough. But was it? After the exercise, only one couple expressed concern. This relatively mild hypnotic exercise encouraged the rest of the parents to relax, feel their supposed connectedness with related animal species - and build resistance against future concern over similar or more occult visualizations.
I am not suggesting we starve our imaginations or quench our tendencies to visualize. We couldn’t if we tried. The imagination forms mental images all day long - whenever we hear a story, remember an event, or read a book. God uses it to reveal Himself to us when we study His Word.
But who or what guides our imagination? There are four possibilities: God, self, another person, or demonic spirit guides. Few realize that human guides, manipulating the imagination through hypnotic visualizations, can produce an altered state of consciousness that opens the mind to occult suggestions. Satan never tires of twisting God’s good gifts to fit his schemes.
The practice of visualization, or "directed imagination," is part of all forms of occultism, ancient as well as modern.... The ability to form clear, detailed, mental images is the key to unlocking occult powers, and visualization is the basis for invoking any deity or spiritual being. See Visualization
Seeking the Spirit of Gaia.
Oneness, harmony, contact with earth’s wisdom ... the promised fruit of earth-centered spirituality - these sound refreshing to our self-focused, power-hungry generation.
Unaware of the dangers, the educational establishment and a growing number of parents are encouraging this "new” spiritual awareness and applauding classroom exercises that empower" children to sense their oneness with the earth and her other species.
Today's visionaries tell us that such spiritual connectedness is the earth’s only hope. In The Dream of the Earth, Thomas Berry summarized the world’s dilemma - and his answer:
Human administration of the universe in any comprehensive manner is far too great a task ... What we need ... is the sensitivity to understand and respond to the psychic energies deep in the very structure of reality itself... This is the ultimate wisdom of tribal peoples.5
The Sierra Club Environmental Health Sourcebook, Well Body, Well Earth by Mike Samuels and Hal Zina Bennett, shows us how. It tells us to "turn to the traditions of ancient cultures" such as Buddhist meditations and Native American Hopi rituals in order to "reaffirm our bond with the spirit of the living earth":
The practice of visualization, that is, deliberately using your imagination to focus your attention on a particular goal, is an important mental tool for change ...[and] probably dates back to human beginnings… In Greece, for example, when people wanted help in solving difficult problems, they consulted the Oracle at Delphi. [There] the priests acknowledged a spirit of the living Earth for which the Greek name was Gaea. Priestesses of Gaea were trained in the art of visualization and had dedicated their lives to a study of the spirit of the living Earth. When asked to help a person solve a problem - such as when to plant their fields or how to influence the conception of children - the priestess ... imagined herself consulting with Gaea. The answer coming from the visualization of Gaea was the answer the priestess gave....
The visualization exercises we describe here are intended to help people focus on the concept of the living Earth. Because most people who live in an urban or suburban setting have little or no daily contact with the Earth, we require something like visualization to help us get in touch with our planet... [6]
Well Body, Well Earth details the steps (deep breathing, relaxation and auto suggestions) to "the level of consciousness" where "you can be in touch with those forces in the universe that. . . encourage health and wellbeing.” [7] Here in a trance state, you are ready to visualize the creation of the universe - even to have a dialogue with Mother Earth herself.
"The more you contact the voice of the living Earth," promise the authors, "the easier it will become for you to contact it and trust what it provides." [8]
There is no doubt that the last statement is true. The more a person deals with earthy spirits, the more tenaciously they cling. While God speaks through one Holy Spirit, "the voice" of Earth comes from armies of demons. The seeker who follows the above advice may become deaf to God and host to an oppressive parasitic demon that some versions of the Bible call a familiar spirit. Only God’s authority and power can bring freedom. [9]
Psychics, channelers, witches and shamans (tribal medicine men) know that occult forces may loose hidden terrors. Some have issued strong warnings against naive experimentation which may invoke mischievous, even murderous, spirits. But their warnings have failed to stop environmental pied pipers; speaking from some of the most influential platforms in our nations, they promote earthy spirituality and occult connections with evangelistic zeal.
Eco-Education
One such enthusiast, Andy LePage, wrote a book that seems to be doing what its title promises: Transforming Education (1987). Its long list of endorsers includes notables like Matthew Fox and Dr. Robert Muller, former under secretary of the United Nation’s Economic and Social Council.
"Andy LePage's book," says Muller, "opens the curtain on one of the most exciting and promising philosophical educational debates there ever was on this planet.10
What planetary philosophy does LePage teach? Like others who promote a speedy return to nature worship, he emphasizes the need to discard the "disease of dualism",11 (in this context: dividing reality into two opposing forces - the physical verses the spiritual). He challenges educators to awaken students to their oneness with the entire creation (monism) through models such as Hatha Yoga, witchcraft, and Native American spiritism. [12]
But do educators really buy this religious dogma? Indeed, they do, with all their heart.
"Andy LePage has written what may well become one of most important books in education," says Professor Sidney B. Simon, father of values clarification, "which should be given to every new teacher, every new principal, and certainly, to every new school board member. Should that happen, the education of our children would take a turn for the better that might be enough to save us all." [13]
Since LePage wrote his book, a growing assortment of environmental curricula has flooded classrooms. I hope much of it presents practical information untouched by the persuasions of Deep Ecology. Children need to know ecological facts and be encouraged toward environmental wisdom - but not its spirituality. A 1990 Wall Street Journal article shared nationwide expressions of enthusiasm for earth stewardship.
No figures are available, but thousands of schools across the country have worked environmentalism into the classroom, usually in science courses but also in social studies, English and other subjects. Florida, Maryland and Iowa are among states interested in a five-year-old law in Wisconsin that required public schools from kindergarten to twelfth grade, to integrate ecology into the curriculum... Congress is considering a bill that would fashion and make available an environmental studies program for schools around the country. [14]
It sounds good. Yet, teaching on environmental awareness often includes political, economic, cultural and spiritual persuasions that neither children nor parents are prepared to evaluate. For example, how should students (and parents) respond when a classroom cassette tape intones the rhythmic sounds of Native American prayers to Mother Earth? Or when a schoolwide Earth Fest engages the students in “water cycle dances" - something that happened in a Pennsylvania school? [15]
Once we know the sources of much of our environmental curricula, we can help our children to discern spiritual counterfeits. Much of this curriculum flows from the New Age/Deep Ecology philosophies of John Denver's Colorado based Windstar and Steve Van Matre's Institute for Earth Education in Illinois. The demand for their curriculum is soaring. According to the article, "Education That Cannot Wait' by Mike Weilbacher, Van Matre may be "the most creative force" in environmental education:
Van Matre's work has been replicated planet wide; his activities form the backbone of many nature center programs.
Once, environmental educators begged to be let inside the schools. Today teachers are banging on the front doors of nature centers. [16]
What does Van Matre believe? "This," he says, referring to a portion of his book The Earth Speaks, "is about giving up old ways of seeing, about loving the earth as a whole, about tapping into the universal flow of life ... "17
Curriculum that takes students beyond objective reality and opens the door to earth-centered spirituality can be divided into three categories:
Training students to connect with earth’s life force.
Reinstating earth-centered myth as a guiding force.
Teaching practical witchcraft and mind control
While some of the illustrations in this and the next two chapters may not sound like environmental teaching, they encourage students to discard traditional views of reality and to accept the pagan perspective (paradigm) essential to Deep Ecology. Notice that the beliefs and practices of spiritism (communicating with demonic spirits), witchcraft, and shamanism (using magic to contact various spirits) fit right into ancient nature worship. According to their promoters, these steps will help our children connect with the earth, with their supposedly divine inner selves, and with each other. They will empower them to rebuild their sick polluted world.
Training in Spiritism.
Like every earth-based culture before us, America is tapping into occult forces that blind people to God’s truth. It doesn’t matter whether we call the force Mother Earth, Gaia, psychic power, or cosmic energy; all point to the same unholy source. Satan’s power may be puny compared to the might of our sovereign King, but it is far greater than mere human strength. And the most vulnerable among us, our children, face the greatest onslaught.
Schools have adopted age-old pagan formulas to teach self-esteem and personal empowerment. For example, "Pumsy in Pursuit of Excellence," a controversial self-esteem program used in "more than 12,000 elementary schools nationwide",[19] uses a cute dragon puppet to train students in self-hypnosis. Presented as a "cognitive, mental health curriculum," [20] it trains children to use relaxation exercises, visualizations, and chants to create their own meadow, float through the air on Pumsy's back meet and speak with Pumsy’s friend, feel strength coming into their bodies...
That occult indoctrination can happen on a grand scale was proven during 1989-1990, when teachers in seventy Los Angeles schools introduced children to their personal spirit guides. Two thousand children, third grade and up, participated in the pilot program, "Mission SOAR - Set Objectives, Achieve Results." Bob Simonds, President of Citizens for Excellence in Education (CEE), alerted parents through a newsletter with the following information:
The lessons in Mission SOAR parallel closely ... the exercises outlined in the New Age book, Beyond Hypnosis: A Program For Developing Your Psychic and Healing Power, by leading New Age psychic William Hewitt. Children ... are hypnotized, introduced to demonic spirits, and told to seek "their counsel'” when making decisions. Hard to believe? [21]
This outline of the exercises taught in the program shows the most familiar steps to occult connectedness and oppression:
Prehypnotic preparation through relaxation
Hypnotic control through colors (visualizing a rainbow)
Breaking the hypnotic spell
Conjuring up the dead, summoning spirit guides
Creating an inner psychic room to meet spirits
Learning that psychic medicine will cure all illnesses
Accepting the spirit beings into your life
Receiving power from a white light, a common element in psychic practice (2 Cor. 11:14)
Planning one's life with the help of spirit guides.
"Your helpers are both experts and can help you, teach you, guide you, listen to you, and counsel you at anytime ... Know that [he and she] will always be there at your side whenever you need [them]."22
A Girl Scout jamboree director led about forty junior scouts (ages 10-12) on a similar journey. According to a concerned California scout leader who observed the campfire ceremony, the director, dressed as a Native American, invoked the Great Spirit and the spirits of the woods, the North, South, East, and West. After explaining their entrance into womanhood and marking their foreheads with ashes, she led the girls on a meditational journey to contact the earth and a personal spirit guide. Imagine a meadow..." intoned her mysterious voice. "See a young woman sitting under a tree. Talk to her." This wise person would be their life companion and helper.
With such constant and faithful spirit helpers, who would want to follow advice from Mom, Dad, or God? Why invite a contrary opinion when the guide speaks what one wants to hear - at least in the beginning?
The Apostle Paul warned us that "in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons" (1 Timothy 4:1). Spiritual experimentation, whether in the name of ecology, globalism or self realization, yields confusion instead of wisdom, fear instead of self-confidence, and bondage instead of freedom. Each such program results in wasted teaching time, erosion of biblical beliefs and values, and the possibility of devastating mental and spiritual oppression.
Contrary to Satan’s glowing promises, spiritism hinders rather than helps us live peaceably with the earth. God told us so! His warning to Israel rings true for us today:
Let no one be found among you who ... practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.... Because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
ENJOY YOUR FATHER’S WORLD.
We don’t need a mystical host of guides and spirits to show us God’s creation. If we ask, the Holy Spirit will open our eyes to enjoy God’s wonders. He wants to use those wonders to show us the Creator Himself.
When the crowds pressed and the demands seemed unending, Jesus often sought solitude and strength on a quiet Mountainside or by the shore of Galilee. There He would talk with His Father and receive wisdom and strength for the day. "Come with Me by yourselves," He invites each of us, "to a quiet place and get some rest' (Mark 6:31).
It's not easy to find time or solitude in our hectic, high pressured lifestyles. If I had to catch up on all obligations first, it would never happen. Yet, when I make time to meet my Lord in one of the special places He has shown me, His quieting strength more than compensates.
When my sons were younger, we often explored the nearby park. We would ask God to show us something special - small or large, ordinary as a trail of laboring ants or extraordinary as a bird feeding her babies - that would demonstrate His love, order, and creativity.
Sometimes we would simply lie on our backs and gaze up into the leafy crowns of surrounding trees. We would close our eyes, listen to nature's sounds, and thank our Shepherd for His wonderful presence. Unlike Eastern meditation (where one empties the mind, then welcomes any spiritual voice willing to fill it), this time of stillness sharpened our minds - and filled our thoughts with God’s words, works, and wonders.
Author and nature guide Joseph Cornell has helped thousands of people - young and old - to know and enjoy nature. He also demonstrates the two-sided thrust of the environmental movement: practical help and occult spirituality. In Sharing Nature with Children, he suggests several ways you can build respect and love for nature in yourself and others. His five points on "How To Be an Effective Nature Guide" remind us as adults to slow down and tune our hearts to the Creator's own art.
Teach less, and share more.
Be receptive. Receptivity means listening. Be alert. Something exciting or interesting is almost always happening.
Focus the child’s attention without delay. Involve everyone as much as you can, by asking questions and pointing out interesting sights and sounds ...
Look and experience first; talk later. Observe the tree from unusual perspectives. Feel and smell its bark and leaves. Quietly sit on or under its branches, and be aware of all the forms of life that live in and around the tree and depend on it.
A sense of joy should permeate the experience. Remember that your own enthusiasm is contagious.24
Sharing Nature with Children has been endorsed by the National Audubon Society as a powerful tool in educating children," the National Science Teachers Association, and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America. The foreword by Paul E. Knoop, Jr., Program Director at the National Audubon Society’s Aullwood Center, tells about Joseph Cornell’s participation in their Naturalist Training Program:
The Aullwood staff were taken by Joseph’s naturalness and love for the earth. When he was in the outdoors, it was obvious that Joseph was in his element: he spoke to the trees, touched them with love - and, yes, even embraced them. He had a childlike quality, and it always seemed to him the earth was a place of beauty and mystery.25
Sound good? But wait a moment! Before you run out and buy one of his bestsellers, let me share something else about Joseph Cornell. This inspiring nature lover belongs to the Ananda World Brotherhood Village, a cozy community nestled in the foothills of California's Sierra mountains. Sri Kriyananda, founder and spiritual director of Ananda, was discipled by Indian yoga master, Paramhansa Yogananda, who came to America to "awaken” Hindu spirituality.
Ananda satellite groups adorn suburban centers and university campuses with posters inviting the public to a delicious assortment of spiritual treats: Self-Realization, Attunement, Meditation.
In Listening to Nature, Cornell paints a panorama with quotes from various pagan teachers. Black Elk’s Native American spirituality exposes the heart of Deep Ecology: "Peace ... comes within the souls of people when they realize… their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this center is really everywhere.
Unfortunately, Cornell’s enticing blend of delightful insights, heartfelt devotion, and spiritual deception characterizes much of the environmental movement. Please don’t misunderstand - I'm not suggesting we therefore dismiss all of the movement’s literature or avoid Green groups. For example, the Audubon Society continues to deepen my appreciation and concern for God’s wonderful creatures - and may be oblivious of Cornell’s spiritual persuasions. Ask God to show you to His choice of books - then read with discernment, wear the armor, and trust your Shepherd to guide your family as you follow Him.
Endnotes:
1. Richard N. Ostling, "When God Was a Woman," Time (6 May 1991): 73.
2. Elinor W. Gadon, The Once and Future Goddess (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989), 229-30.
3. Donald Bloesch, "Lost in the Mythical Myths," Christianity Today (19 August 1991): 23.
4. Spaceship Earth: Our Global Environment, a project of The American Fo-rum for Global Education (45 John Street, Suite 1200, New York, N.Y. 10038). Contributors include Turner Broadcasting System, Ted Turner's Better World Society, Gaia Corporation, Tree People, National Wildlife Federation.
5. Thomas Berry, The Dream of the Earth (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1988), 201.
6. Ibid., 87.
7. Julie Lanham, "The Greening of Ted Turner," The Humanist (November/December 1989): 6.
8. Barbara G. Walker, The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1983), 450.
9. Henry Morris, Ph.D., The Biblical Basis for Modem Science (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1984), 37.
10. This attitude permeates environmental philosophies and literature. Much historical distortion was fomented through an article by Lynn White, Jr. titled, "The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis," Science (10 March 1967).
11. Elliot Miller, A Crash Course on the New Age Movement (Grand Rapids-: Baker Book House, 1989), 87.
12. Matthew Fox, "What is Creation?" Creation (March/April 1990): 4.
13. Ibid., 18.
14. Michael and Alison Dowd, "A Christian Relationship to Earth," Firmament (Spring 1990): 3.
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