Utilizing the Earth for Good – Jim Corbett
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
November 17, 2024
Good morning Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections. This morning we continue our Speak Truth to Power series by looking at Quaker Jim Corbett. The scripture I have chosen to support this message is from Job 12:7-10 from the New Revised Standard Version.
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you,
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of every human being.
Remember in the beginning of the Bible, Genesis 1:28, where it says,
“And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion [be stewards] over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Many scholars call Genesis 1:28 the “Cultural Mandate.” It’s the original call to stewardship. It’s where God first calls humanity to cultivate and care for her creation using the unique gifts and talents she has endowed to every person. As Friends, we uphold this mandate by stating,
“The earth we share is limited in its capacity to support life and to provide resources for our survival. The environment that has provided sustenance for generations must be protected for generations to come. We have an obligation, therefore, to be responsible stewards of the earth, to restore its natural habitat where it has been damaged, and to maintain its vitality. Friends’ historic testimonies on simplicity have long stressed that the quality of life does not depend upon immodest consumption. The urgency of the threat to the environment cannot be overstated.”
This statement comes from Friends Committee on National Legislation policy statement (from 1987), it is also cited in the Friends Committee on Unity with Nature statement.
We are mandated to be good stewards, people responsible for the care of the Earth. I sense this is going to be a hotly contested topic, and front and center, in the coming months and years. We are going to be called to Speak Truth to Power as it relates to creation care and our environment.
I remember one of my first times hearing Quaker Richard Foster speak at a Renovaré Conference he shared with us the three great “books” that guide our lives:
the book of scripture,
the book of experience,
and the book of nature.
I personally have found my faith deepened by spending time in the stewardship of the earth. It is as Robin Wall Kimmerer says in the important book, Braiding Sweetgrass, “In some Native Languages the term for plants translates to “those who take care of us.”
Learning to read the book of nature has not only been therapy for me, but it has also given me insights to my own spiritual path – from doing the hard work of tending to the weeds in my life, to learning about parenting from watching birds, to sensing hope in a sunrise or being thankful when the day is done by watching a beautiful sun set. The list could go on and on.
But if there is one thing I have learned it is that to be a citizen of this Earth means we have a responsibility to take care of it as it takes care of us, to learn from it, and allow it to be a bearer of peace in our lives. I don’t know about you, but lately, nature has brought peace to the chaos of the world around me. Watching the seasons change, the leaves fall, and the winter arrive – is a sign of both death and also new life.
A book that I quote from often and has had a profound voice in my life is Quaker Catherine Whitmire’s book, Practicing Peace. It was in her book that I was first introduced to Jim Corbett our Quaker for this morning. Some of you may remember me talking about Jim several years ago or the painting I created that I often have us interpret in our affirmation classes.
Some consider Jim a philosopher, spiritual warrior, and even some consider him a modern Quaker prophet.
Catherin Whitmire introduced me to Jim in her chapter on Practicing Peace in our Everyday Lives with the Earth. As I have further explored Jim and his life, I have been amazed not only by his story, but the role that nature, the animals and the earth play in helping him see his higher calling. I can imagine Jim reading our scripture for this morning in this way,
But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
the goats of the land and the bees of the air, and they will tell you;
ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you…
Arden Buck shared some of Jim’s story in Friends Journal and I want to highlight some of his life for you this morning.
Jim Corbett who lived from 1933-2001, was a brilliant and original thinker and writer; he was a fearless activist, who insisted on putting his Quaker principles into action rather than just talking about them. He was also a rancher, a goat herder, and an expert at living simply and close to the Earth.
Corbett grew up in Wyoming, a descendent of Blackfoot Native Americans, Kentucky pioneers, and Ozark Mountain mule traders. As a child he taught himself to be comfortable with discomfort – at ease with hunger, cold, pain – and to detach himself from social expectations. A convinced Quaker, Corbett was a quiet, soft-spoken, unassuming person. For much of their life he and his wife Pat lived very simply in an old, salvaged house trailer.
As a student, Corbett breezed through Colgate University in three years and then went on to earn a master’s in philosophy at Harvard in only one year. Throughout his life, he held a variety of jobs including philosophy professor, librarian, park ranger, cowboy, anti-war organizer, and Quaker activist. But he was always a rancher at heart. For a while, he lived with a group of semi-nomadic goatherders in Mexico.
Cathrine Whitmire pointed out that “Corbett spent years listening to the earth and its innumerable creatures as he rambled through the arid but beautiful Sonoran desert in Arizona, herding goats. Of his time following the flock through barren wilderness he wrote:
“Leisure, solitude, dependence on uncontrolled natural rhythms, alert, concentration on present events, long nights devoted to quiet watching – little wonder that so many religions originated among herders and so many religious metaphors are pastoral.”
Jim Corbett was known for what he called, “Goatwalking.” Arden Buck says he developed it into an art.
He would wander the desert with goats for weeks at a time. The goats would forage as they went, and Jim would drink their milk and forage as well. It was a way for him to go on solitary meditative retreats without having to carry any food or water. He pointed out that this living was pastoral nomadism. It is how the Plains Indians lived, and it’s how we are told that Moses led his people in the desert for 40 years. Many Bedouin and Mongolian herders still live this way today.
Corbett saw goatwalking as a form of errantry, which he defined as “going outside of society to live according to one’s inner leadings.”
Corbett even invited people to join him on his goatwalking journeys utilizing the same rules. No food or water, except the occasional oats and raisins. He taught people how to live off the earth, to understand goats, and become companions with both. Even though people were drawn to this extreme experience, Corbett knew that it was almost impossible for most modern urban humans (like you and me) to understand the idea of living in communion with our natural world.
One thing that I found interesting is that Jim said not to bring reading or writing materials when experiencing nature. He said, “Just be there and soak in your experience of the wilderness.
I don’t know about you, but I think one of the biggest reasons we cannot connect to the earth and nature anymore is because of technology. Jim didn’t mention that, but if reading and writing were out, I am sure technology was, too.
Back in Oregon, our oldest child, Alex, was sent as the youth representative for the Northwest Yearly Meeting on a spiritual formation retreat with another Yearly Meeting. He flew to Colorado, and then joined a llama pack and several other youth and adults on a journey into the Medicine Bow Range and up to the top of Medicine Bow Peak.
Much like Corbett’s goat walking, Alex became the friend of a herd of llama. They ate very simply, did some scavenging, and slept out in the wild. Listening to them explain the conversations they had with the participants was amazing. As someone who is a professional animator and spends their life behind a screen, this really had a profound impact on Alex. They learned things about themself, about others, about nature, about struggle, accomplishment, and about the Divine.
Similarly, Jim Corbett also learned a lot about himself and others in nature. He also found a new calling. After moving to Tucson, Arizona he developed his beehive and goat husbandry techniques for use in poor countries.
At the edge of his property was built a fence to deter illegal border crossings. This was the early 80’s and sadly we were backing violent governments in Central America who were killing and torturing labor leaders, students, church activists, and their relatives. Individuals and even entire families were fleeing across Jim’s property.
It wasn’t long until Jim heard of a Salvadoran refugee being caught by Border Patrol on his property. This led Jim to inquire about the refugee and follow him to an immigration detention center in California. Jim’s eyes were opened when he found hundreds of detained Central Americans there who had fled war and persecution in their home countries.
Soon Jim teamed up with John M. Fife III, a Presbyterian Pastor in Tucson who helped him begin to harbor refugees. They organized a system for passing illegal immigrants from church to church across the country. This ended up being what we now know as the Sanctuary Movement in America.
Corbett mailed 500 Quaker Meetings and groups seeking their help in the creation of an underground railroad to Canada. Hundreds of Quaker meetings and other churches participated. During the 1980’s Corbett and his sanctuary helped free thousands of Central American refugees.
Corbett experienced life on this planet at a much different level than most people. Arden Buck speaking of his writing said, Corbett…
“developed a philosophy that embraced not only humans, but all life on Earth. He extended Quaker principles to apply to all of Earth’s creatures and ultimately to all of creation – there is that of God in all nature. Regarding environmental preservation, he followed a third way between the two extremes of exploiter and environmentalist by advocating that humans and nature can coexist respectfully.”
Every time, I think about Jim Corbett or read something about him, our own Dan Mitchell comes to mind. Many of you probably couldn’t identify Dan Mitchell if you had to pick him out of a room of people. He usually sits in the balcony and out of the center of attention by choice.
I had the honor of working with Dan for several years and becoming his friend as he was our maintenance person at First Friends when I arrived. I have known him to always speak truth to power regarding caring for the earth. He has been adamant about First Friends refraining from using chemicals to kill the weeds on our grass, as well as finding alternative and safe ways to eliminate them. He is dedicated to our grounds and to our meditational woods and you will often see him working in them without being asked.
It also struck me when we would find mice in our pantry or kitchen that he would find a way to capture them, and then release them into the wild instead of killing them.
And I know Dan’s heart is always in helping others. Last Sunday, as our Latino Friends found that their keys were locked in their car after worship, it was Dan who was calling his own AAA club to get the door open – even though as he phoned, they successfully opened it. And If you haven’t seen him interact with his grandchildren or join us for VBS and see the amazing backdrops he and Rebecca create out of almost all recycled items for our kids, then you are missing what I and many others have come to value and appreciate about Dan. I even heard that every day during Covid, Dan would go to his grandkid’s house and draw a picture and place it on their window, since they could not interact. Every day during Covid – that is dedication. If you have not met Dan, take time get to know him and glean some of his wisdom.
For now, I turn these thoughts on us and have some queries for us to ponder as we enter waiting worship:
1. How am I letting the “book of nature” read to me in my daily life? What are the animals around me teaching and telling me?
2. In the chaos of our world, how might spending time in nature help me?
3. How am I being called to Speak Truth to Power regarding environmental issues? How is First Friends?