Environmental Isolate

Two Views Of One

In reading the news of the past week

I came upon a fundamentally surprising

article suggesting the Bible's organizers,

over the years, edited out mention of

Asherah, whom the Book of Kings and

other sources suggest was worshiped

alongside Yahweh, in his temple, as his

wife.

The comments following on the article

were heated beyond the usual urgency

that drives people to contribute. As one

can imagine, there were those eager to

discredit (God is neither he nor she; it

is our language that uses pronouns), as

well as those eager to see vindication

(at last, we're finally appreciating our

Queen).

Let's just say I think both perspectives

are right. And here's an example of why:

As I read on, I came upon an article about

a well-intentioned group called the

Archangel Ancient Tree Archive whose love

for ancient trees has led them to clone the

mightiest specimens still living on earth

(think towering redwoods and sequoias)

and to plant these clones hither and yon,

hoping they will succeed in growing to the

size of their clone-sakes.

The AATA is probably going about their

work with a minimum of smarts; they probably

aren't planting their clones in unsuitable climes.

But they are ignoring Ashera; essentially,

they're growing environmental isolates. One

has only to look at secondary forests growing

on land that once saw wilderness in all it's glory.

After the old growth is cut down, decades of

rain leach the soil of nutrients; the complex

web of life, involving animals, fungi, microbes

and temperature modulation are swept away

and often a monoculture is then planted instead.

Such second-generation trees are guaranteed

to be compromised in stature.

This is why wilderness is so valuable. It is not

just isolated champions standing tall, proving

themselves superior and able to pass on genetic

success; it is the nurturing entirety of the dead

and the living, creating the fertile soil and

enveloping circumstance that enable greatness.