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Earth Day was established in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson. Part of a global response to a massive oil spill in Southern California in 1969, April 22nd became a benchmark for recognizing that the oversight of our nation\u2019s natural resources was a mess. That summer, while working as a deckhand on an ore freighter on the Great Lakes, shipmates warned me not to slip off the dock when we unloaded cargo in Toledo. I took their advice. During the prior shipping season, the Cayuga River we were navigating had literally caught fire because of toxic pollutants. Later in December, the […]<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
Easter 2023 I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect great wonders. -Henry David Thoreau Here in the Northern Great Lakes Basin we are witnessing what Native peoples of our region traditionally call \u201cThe breaking of the Waters.\u201d River ice is melting. In still snow-covered forests, the first green shoots of ferns and mosses are appearing as sign-bearers announcing another spring. It is a time of promise. One of the enduring problems with religious life is that there is a frequent tendency to regard religious matters as […]<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
*This article was written by Jon Magnuson, and published in the Mining Journal July, 2022. Eagles, Prayers, Promises July 4, 2022 Last month, in a far corner of the Upper Peninsula, whistles made from eagle bones sounded over Mission Bay, just North of State Street in the village of St. Ignace. Remains of Fr. Jacques Marquette were reverently placed back into the ground where the bones of that Jesuit priest and explorer were buried in 1677. Anishinaabe prayers, echoes of drums, and the scent of burning sage floated over the Courtyard of the Museum of Ojibwa Culture Days later, we […]<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
*This article was written by Jon Magnuson, and published in the Marquette Monthly January, 2022. DURING TIME OF THE STARVING MOON A few days ago, shortly after sunrise, I carefully placed a pair of ice cleats in a small backpack along with two cups and a thermos of hot tea. A friend of mine, a former wild fire forest fighter, was soon to join me for a morning\u2019s trip. We were driving to a remote cabin to cover and tie down two kayaks set on a storage rack not far from a rocky cliff on Superior\u2019s shoreline. We took the […]<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
*This article was written by Jon Magnuson, and published in EarthBeat October, 2021, by the National Catholic Reporter. Strap yourself in for a ride. Josh Berson, an independent anthropologist, invites readers into a world that turns upside down conventional arguments about how we are to best meet the challenges of climate change in the 21st century. His thesis takes time to unfold in five complex, interwoven chapters, but the final message is clear: Technology will not save us. Berson says we will need to adapt more wisely and swiftly to all live more lightly on the planet. The environments we […]<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
*This article was written by Jon Magnuson, and published in the Lake Superior Magazine April \/ May, 2021. \u201cTo everything there is a season…\u201d\u2013 Ecclesiastes 3:1 I\u2019m watching the weather. Carefully. I\u2019m looking for a specific equation during this long-awaited spring: Nights below freezing, days in the 30s\u00b0 F. Energy is moving; expectations are mounting. I begin doing extra push-ups and sit-ups each morning. I check the leather straps on my snowshoes. It\u2019s my 25th year getting ready to engage in a 1,000-year-old ritual: Maple sugaring. Our family\u2019s 2005 Jeep is in reasonable shape, I made sure of that. Up […]<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
*This article was written by Jon Magnuson, and published in the Mining Journal April 3, 2021. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, is supposedly the richest man in the world. He and another billionaire venture capitalist Elon Musk both have a similar idea. Fly on a rocket to the planet Mars. Colonize a sustainable human community there. No, this isn\u2019t fiction. Bezos\u2019 private company Blue Origin has already booked passengers for an upcoming commercial space travel venture at $200,000 to $250,000 a ticket. The flight is booked solid. Is this as bizarre, naively arrogant as it sounds? Yes. The truth is […]<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
*This article was written by Jon Magnuson, and published in EarthBeat January, 2021, by the National Catholic Reporter. On the northern edge of the Great Lakes Basin, the earth has turned to iron, trees are shed of leaves, and carpets of snow and ice cover miles of desolate forests, rocky coastlines and dense cedar swamps. The earth is cold here. Barren. Deer huddle together under low-lying branches. An ominous stillness hovers in the darkness. The Anishinaabe, Indigenous peoples of this region, call these midwinter days the “time of the Hunger Moon.” Near a cabin north of the small community where […]<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>