Remembering My Earth Creed, 1975

Definace, Ohio. I am of two worlds; brother to the everlasting Earth and brother to my own people.   I believe in no Gods other than the nature of the Earth and the Goodness of People.   I believe that what is right occurs only in accordance with the Nature of Goodness.

I believe that our Earth is home to my people, as they have risen from Her and will shortly return to Her.

I believe that my people are no longer one with our Earth as they have lost the knowledge necessary to understand and respect Her.

I accept the knowledge that within my lifetime I will be faced with conflicts great and small between Nature and Goodness, as I perceive both to be.

I hope that when conflicts between our Earth and my people arise, I will hold the strength, wisdom and maturity to decide of which I am part.

I further hope that I will never abandon my people to seek a oneness with our Earth alone, but instead devote my life to reuniting the two great FORCES, the everlasting Earth and my own people.

Note: I wrote this the high school summer I spent a month in   building paths through the forests of Northern Ohio with the Ohio Youth Conservation Corp, now part of the Corps Network .   The Corps Network represents the nation's Service and Conservation Corps, operating in 45 states and the District of Columbia.   Over 30,000 Corps members, ages 16-25, annually mobilize approximately 227,000 community volunteers who in conjunction with Corps members generate 21.3 million hours of service every year.   Service and Conservation Corps are a direct descendant of the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, in which three million young men dramatically improved the nation's public lands while receiving food, shelter, education, and a precious $30-a-month stipend.

Originally published in “Defiance,” Ohio Youth Conservation Corp , Defiance, Ohio, August 15, 1975.

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