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–Cultivate many and deep relationships, and finally,

–Develop ourselves spiritually. Religion may be a mass phenomenon, but spirituality is not. It is an individual matter—hence its strength—and I will say no more about it here except to encourage you to find, if you have not already done so, a teacher and a practice. It’s the most revolutionary act of all.

Michael N. Nagler is professor emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley, where he founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program. He is founder and president of the Metta Center for Nonviolence Education (www.mettacenter.org).

* The Harijan. July 28, 1946,. p 236.

* “People Power: It’s Time to Stop the War Ourselves,” YES! Magazine. Winter 2008,. p 15. Italics added.

Inspiring and Sustaining Action Over Time

RUSKIN K. HARTLEY

Locked in the rings of an ancient redwood in the depths of Northern California’s Humboldt Redwoods State Park lies an unbroken climatic record stretching back 1,800 years to the time of the Roman geographer, Ptolemy. For the past thirty-eight years, I have been part of this record. Imperceptibly, this tree has been recording the imprint I, and my fellow six billion humans, have bequeathed to the atmosphere. By measuring minute changes in the ratio of carbon and oxygen isotopes in tree rings, scientists can reconstruct past climates and begin understanding how this tree has responded. For at least the past hundred years, its rings have borne silent witness to the earth’s steadily increasing levels of carbon dioxide. But this tree also bears witness to the power of people to protect nature when mobilized.

The tree’s biggest threat arrived less than one human lifespan ago when it was slated for harvest. The fact that it stands strong today is testament to the power of the redwoods to inspire action, and the ability of individuals and communities to mobilize. Rather than being cut and split for grape stakes, this ancient giant was protected in a state park. It continues to be protected today because of a complex web of individual and community actions that are sustained to this day.

While this individual ancient tree will likely survive even rapid climate change, the threat to the coast redwood forest as a whole has never been greater. In one study, scientists reported that coastal fog provided up to 45 percent of a redwood tree’s annual water needs. Unfortunately, over the twentieth century it is projected that the incidence of fog on the coast has decreased by perhaps as much as 50 percent. You don’t need to be a scientist to understand that if this trend continues these forests that have flourished for millennia risk extinction through water stress.

So what lessons do I take away from this tree to help me navigate the looming environmental catastrophe? The story of the redwoods is that fear may provoke action, but respect and love must sustain that action over time. The tree was initially “saved” when threatened by loggers. But it’s been sustained in the state park because it continues to inspire successive generations who value its intrinsic worth above its use as a redwood deck—the twenty-first century equivalent of the early twentieth century grape stake. In addition, while the genesis of its protection was an individual act, lasting protection was ultimately achieved through a combination of extraordinary individual generosity, a community of people organized through Save the Redwoods League, and finally the citizens of the state of California who voted to tax themselves to save the tree and its surrounding forest. Over the last ninety years, this model of the individual, the organization, and the public pulling together has established a system of redwood parks and reserves that span California and protect some of the most glorious forests on earth.

In the face of climate change, a similar mobilization is required to save these forests all over again. For the redwoods to survive, we must ensure that parks