Extending Your Hospitality to Other Creatures in God's Creation

Linda B. Rimer, Environmental Stewardship Committee Chair

In keeping with this month's theme of hospitality, the Environmental Stewardship Committee invites you to consider the hospitality that you may, or may not, choose to extend to the other creatures with whom we share God's creation. We are referring to those back yard creatures that share our environment in the Chapel Hill area, such as birds, butterflies and moths, bees, chipmunks, turtles, and squirrels - to name some of the most common ones. Perhaps a more appropriate and enlightened way to approach this subject is with the acknowledgement that these creatures are actually sharing their environment with us!

Perhaps you already provide a welcoming garden or yard, either by accident or design. Or perhaps you take Matthew 6: 28-29 quite seriously ("Consider the lilies of the fields, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."), concluding that God already takes abundant care of these creatures. What more could they possibly need from humans ?

Fortunately, Matthew never experienced the widespread application of pesticides and herbicides that kill both desirable and less desirable plants and animals; or fertilizers that can be harmful if over-used. Neither did the cities and towns of Biblical days - or even in early America - choose today's pattern of urban growth that consumes land voraciously and destroys far more acres of forests, meadows, marshes, and wetlands than are needed to accommodate population growth.

In certain ways, we have improved our stewardship with regard to pesticides and herbicides. You may recall Rachael Carson's 1962 landmark book, Silent Spring, which captured the reality for readers that the use of pesticides such as DDT was leading to the contamination of the food chain, cancer, genetic damage, and the deaths of entire species. In fact, it is said that one of the most important legacies of Silent Spring was a new public awareness that nature was vulnerable to human intervention. And while as a society we have regulated and reduced our use of broad spectrum pesticides applied indiscriminately, as individuals, we have increased our use of backyard chemicals in our striving for the "perfect" lawn or garden.

Our sprawling urbanization is another matter. North Carolina added 1,400,000 residents during the 1990s, with 44% being in the Research Triangle and in Charlotte. Between 1992 and 1997, it is estimated that NC converted 11.6 acres/hour of open space and farm land to developed uses. Between 1987 and 1997, the Triangle alone saw development consume 148,600 acres. As a result, "natural
habitat diminished in size and in effectiveness of supporting wildlife." (NC Commission on Smart Growth, Growth Management and Development, 2001) (http://www.ncleg.net/committees/commissiononsma/commissiononsma.pdf.)

The bottom line message: creatures who share their outdoor environment with us can benefit greatly from our wisdom to extend hospitality that supports their needs for food, water, shelter, and places for them to raise their young. Fortunately, there are several sources of information on how to do this, e.g., the National Wildlife Federation (http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat/) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (http://southeast.fws.gov/maps/nc.html). The National Wildlife Federation even offers a certification program for Backyard Wildlife Habitats, a process that is educational for the whole family.

The basics include making an inventory of your backyard for plants that already support wildlife, deciding on which creatures you want to attract (birds, butterflies, bees, bats), then developing and implementing a plan to attract and support them. What you plant (trees, shrubs, nectar plants), how you tend to those plants (chemical applications), and how you structure your backyard (water availability) will all determine just how hospitable your backyard is. Your rewards will be great. Creating a welcoming habitat for "non-human" creatures is fun, educational, relaxing, and beneficial to air and water quality - all the while providing limitless opportunities to demonstrate your stewardship of God's creation.

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© 2005 The Chapel of the Cross