Thankfulness & Gentleness

My mother-in-law asked me to provide a list of accomplishments this year for her annual newsletter. As I thought about that request I realized that I have NO accomplishments for 2007, and I was sort of glum about that.

But this has been a great year of learning. I am learning to be content with what I have. I am also learning to be thankful and grateful for what I have. I am particularly grateful for my family and friends. I am blessed with friends who have mentored me and shared their wisdom this year, and helped me get a little higher up the learning curve.

I am especially thankful for one new friend I met this year, who has inspired and educated me. This friend has taught me that as an activist, I need to remember the importance of love and gentleness in my work. This is hard to do because sometimes I am frustrated by the denseness and indifference of my ideological opponents.

The following passage was written by my friend. This wisdom has served as a guiding light, and hopefully it will continue to guide me for many years to come.

From my friend (slightly edited):

... You once asked me what you should focus on... and I have been thinking about that ... may I respectfully suggest that you continue to educate the "masses," as many people as possible ... and focus on fine tuning the style of that education (re: population, environment, etc.). You know there is something that I have learned not too long ago ... leading with GENTLENESS. In order for people to hear you, you need to be "gentle" with them so as to win their (for lack of a better word) heart and soul. In fact, this is one of the skills I try to apply everyday at my work. Everyday I have to lead/provide ideas to resolve our humongous amount of problems and issues (some of which keep me up awake at night) and everyday I practice this very simple principle "leading with gentleness, reaching out and winning the other person's heart and soul," presenting ones ideas with the utmost sincere intent for the greater benefit. And you know what? After a period of time of doing this, I have gained a lot of friends and have gained a lot of people's trust in me.

This is what I suggest to everyone ... continue to educate with kindness, gentleness, caring ... and when the time is right for that person, that person will act or respond to it ... i.e., in the end it is up to any one and everyone's free will of choice and of choice to act or do something about anything.

We need to acknowledge and respect people's constraints. To condemn them for not behaving environmentally or ecologically responsibly, or whatever word one wants to use, is not going to get what anyone who is trying to get them to a destination or end result get there. In fact, it will backfire and have the very opposite effect.

Prayers for Rain

In regards to the serious drought that is gripping metro Atlanta, I feel that the following is a brilliant letter. It was published in last week's Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is in response to a prayer service the governor of Georgia led to pray for rain. I could go on and on, but the point is that most people around here simply don't "get it."

From my fellow activist Johnny:

First, repent of overdevelopment

I am all in favor of Gov. Sonny Perdue calling for prayer for rain. But at the same time, he needs to lead the state to repent of overpopulation and overdevelopment.

Water is a limited resource, and the state has simply outgrown the amount of available water. God can send all the rain He wants to send, and the real estate developers will just drink it up, pollute it and waste it.

The economy of Georgia creates the money we all need, but it rests on the ecology of the territory. History has proven time and again that when you destroy that base by breeding too fast, society collapses, regardless of the piety of the people. God won't reward stupidity and greed. When the governor demands a moratorium on development, then we will know his praying is not just posturing.

JOHNNY P

Atlanta Water Crises Is ALL About Growth

The metro Atlanta water crises continues to get worse. I'm afraid that Georgia's political leaders are handling the situation even more poorly than I expected. Not surprisingly, Georgia politicians are either too stupid or too scared to admit that the problem IS ALL ABOUT POPULATION GROWTH. Instead, our leaders are blaming the water shortage on the Army Corps of Engineers and those poor little mussels in Apalachicola Bay.

In my frustration a few weeks ago, I sat down and hammered out letters to my county water director and two local newspapers. Much to my pleasant surprise I got a response from the director and both of my letters were published.

According to the water director of Cobb County, GA, a building moratorium would be challenging due to the strong personal property rights provided by the State of Georgia Constitution. In regards to my idea to deny re-zonings that result in higher density, he said that was "on the table" with the Cobb Board of Commissioners. However, a few days later, my Commission Chair, Sam Olens, was quoted in the press as saying, something to the effect, that denying re-zonings was not worth the lawsuits.

So anyway, the politicians of Georgia are addicted to growth -- for them it is like crack cocaine. As for the citizens of Georgia, every time we conserve a gallon of water all we are doing is helping rich developers get richer.

Here is the letter that was published in my small town newspaper, the Powder Springs Messenger on Nov. 1:

Dear Editor,

While I am glad to do my part in conserving water, I find it troubling that city and county governments are continuing to issue new building permits and continuing to rezone for higher density.

Various elected officials are quick to blame the Endangered Species Act and the Army Corps of Engineers for our current water woes. However, the truth is that our water problems are the result of poorly managed growth and poor resource planning. Droughts are a natural part of nature, but turning north Georgia into a “concrete jungle” is not natural.

Now, we the citizens are asked to sacrifice and compromise our quality of life while the relentless development continues. This is not fair. All of us citizens should demand an immediate building moratorium until the water crises has passed. Otherwise, the buckets in our showers and the bricks in our toilets are only helping to provide for more growth.

The Goose

Here is my letter published in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution on Oct. 25:

Dear Editor,

I see that Chairman Sam Olens has joined the song and dance of other politicians by blaming metro Atlanta’s water woes on the Army Corps of Engineers [Feds must help us to weather drought]. What he fails to mention is that even if the Corps reduced their discharges, it would only delay the inevitable.

If the chairman is serious about conserving water he should use his positions as Cobb County Commission chair and Atlanta Regional Commission chair to promote a metro-wide building moratorium and deny any rezoning that increases density. As long as the metro area continues to explode in growth, all our personal conservation measures will simply be offset. The chairman’s statement that the region’s population growth is not the cause of our current situation is ludicrous.

We citizens have seen enough finger pointing — now it’s time to see local leaders who have the courage to make difficult decisions.

The Goose