On Thursday, Earth Day was celebrated throughout the country,
and the Whittier Daily News included a supplemental section that
featured "green" possibilities and initiatives. Earth Day
focuses on the need to care for the Earth, a kind of human
practice that can be understood as emerging out of a spiritual
attitude. Our present tradition of Earth Day festivities,
however, was generated by political actions. Conceived by former
Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson, the first Earth Day celebration
took place on April 22, 1970 when four million advocates
throughout the nation participated in consciousness-raising
events. This year marked the 40th anniversary of the founding of
the celebration, a number that resonates with biblical stories
and symbols. In biblical literature the number 40 signifies a
time of trial or testing that is followed by a period of new
possibilities. Noah and his kin boarded the ark for 40 days and
40 nights of flood, followed by fresh prospects for the
survivors to start society again. Moses and