Rachel Carson and Seeing as a Child

 

Rachel Carson. Image: US Fish and Wildlife, Robert Wilson


[Jesus]called a child, whom he put among them,  and said,
“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:2-4  (NRSV)

Yesterday was the birthday of the late Rachel Carson, arguably the most influential science writer of the 20th century. Her book Silent Spring, was pivotal in ending the use of the poison, DDT, and changed the way humans perceived their relationship within ecosystems.

Carson is an eco-saint for me, as many of you will know. I feel this way even though she was ambivalent about organized religion and its conventions. She had a remarkable sense of wonder about the natural world. Certainly Silent Spring was a challenging book, but she conveyed wonder in the books which first brought her to fame. 

I saw an article by Paige Madison marking Carson's birthday which was actually published a year ago. It's called Seeing as a Child Sees: Science, Wonder, and Excitement http://fossilhistorypaige.com/2018/05/world-of-marvels/ and here is an excerpt:

 

A Child’s World: Full of Wonder

Marine biologist Rachel Carson saw this in her study of the sea, claiming that it was her retention of childhood wonder for the ocean made her career meaningful. The perspective of children was more clear, truer than an adult’s. “A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement,” she wrote. The problem, she felt, was adulthood. “It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood.”

Carson was extraordinarily concerned about this dimming of excitement concerning the world around us. She begged others to teach children to maintain this unique worldview, writing,

If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantment of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.

"Dimming of excitement" --what a powerful phrase. One of the delights of this stage of my life is participating in the excitement and wonder of our three grandchildren who are 1 1/2, nearly 4, and 6. All three love being outside and exploring and, praise God, their parents are excellent at supporting their explorations. Needless to say, we do as well, as we did for our three children through the years.

With all the serious and discouraging news we hear about the planet these days which we should heed, we can listen to Rachel Carson in her encouragement to sustain the instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, and do so as God's children, all.