on the wing

Science is in God's right hand
Beauty is in her left
Finally knowing, learning where to stand
I can see as if aloft
The flight of birds can take me there
I can feel it at the heart
The wind, the light, the falcon's stare
I learn to play my part

more on intrinsic value in nature

Holmes Rolston discusses intrinsic value in nature here.

Professor Rolston is perhaps better able to discuss this topic than most anyone. 

Gift of the Fallen Leaves

The great cycling of life and death
Green leaves translating the sun's energy
Now return to earth, some traveling
Downstream.

Colors that were always there, hidden
Behind the chlorophyll
Now unmasked, and short-lived
Pass before our eyes.

This message; what does it say to me
The need to wait for truth to unfold -
I am so impatient, waiting for justice,
Realizing it may not come today.

But I will stay and keep working at my small tasks
Hopeful that they will add to the total
I am not working in a vacuum
We all wait on justice. 

a wonderful book: Falling Upward

Richard Rohr has produced something amazing: Falling Upward, A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life. Check some excellent reviews at these links:
http://www.bobcornwall.com/2011/04/falling-upward-review.html
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/books.php?id=21039
http://blog.beliefnet.com/aliteraryspirit/2011/10/new-release-book-review-falling-upward-by-richard-rohr.html

Buddhism and deep ecology

A way of entering this discussion: A Manual for Buddhism and Deep Ecology - an online source that brings these beliefs and insights into contact with one another.

just way forward on economics, livelihood, environment

I recently attended the "Envisioning a Fairer Future" conference hosted by the Nelson Institute in Madison, WI. Among many noteworthy presentations (see this link for the list of speakers), was one by Dr. Juliet Schor from Boston College. See a synopsis of Dr. Schor's recent book Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth here. Dr. Schor details a new way forward for our economy: "plenitude" - which "calls attention to the inherent bounty of nature that we need to recover. It directs us to the chance to be rich in the things that matter to us most, and the wealth that is available in our relations with one another. Plenitude involves very different ways of living than those encouraged by the maxims that have dominated the discourse for the last twenty-five years. It puts ecological and social functioning at its core, but it is not a paradigm of sacrifice. To the contrary, it involves a way of life that will yield more well-being than sticking to business as usual, which has led both the natural and economic environments into decline."  This is a hopeful book, and highly recommended. See and hear Dr. Schor speaking on this topic on YouTube at this link.

ecofeminism links

Find some excellent links to topics within the category of ecofeminism at the following;

Colorado State University Library: go to this link.

The Green Fuse: go to this link

Ecofeminism dot net

intimate conversation with mother earth

For a dramatically different take on the ethical dimension of reality, see this "intimate conversation with mother earth", from Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh; (go to this link). Thich Nhat Hanh's teaching is a rich alternative to much of the empty materialism of the West: "You manifested more than 4 and a half billion years ago and life began to manifest on you less than one billion years later. Since then, you have gradually become the beautiful living planet that you are today". 

intrinsic value in nature

Holmes Rolston has a new book: A New Environmental Ethics: The Next Millenium for Life on Earth. Although Rolston covers many topics herein, of special significance me is his writing on intrinsic value in nature. He takes great care to explore the ideas around "who values", what constitutes a "valuer", and how he diverges from some current philosophers on these questions. I think Rolston has it right; my understanding is mostly formed out of intuition. Read and decide for yourself.

recommended book

This book may be "just the right book, at just the right time", for some of us. "Plotkin’s greatest concern about current Western society is that we are stuck in an adolescent stage (Duane Elgin also expressed this in his excellent book Promise Ahead) in which we are, in the absence of natural initiation, prone to addictions and highly destructive behavior.  Sooner or later, we each have to address the paramount addiction in the Western world: our psychological dependence on the worldview and lifestyle of Western civilization itself." 
(from a review by Linda Buzzell, M.A., M.F.T.; see this link for more of this review)