EARTHKEEPING
NEWS
A NEWSLETTER
OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY
Volume Fourteen, Number Two
March/April 2005
A Garden Grows on the Hudson
Boughton Place in Ulster County, New York, addresses in its programs the spiritual unity of all life, as we face a difficult future. It holds forth in microcosm a vision of how relationships could be more interconnected and less fragmented in a peaceful world. The work of Boughton Place revolves around three distinct themes: the use of community and individual story sharing, home sharing and psychodrama, and the TimeLine Garden Labyrinth.
The Garden Labyrinth began to take shape in the late 1990s. We realized we could no longer address human problems without addressing those of the earth. With its plants and sculptures, the garden gives the earth a chance to tell its story. It provides a sacred ecological site and seeks to "ground in the earth" many of the ideas expressed by Thomas Berry, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and other thinkers.
The three circuits of paths and plants in this egg-shaped labyrinth are metered in logarithmic time scale, designed by Boughton Place resident Bob Moritz. 13.7 billion years of Universal Life are compressed into an 830-foot walk back through time. When finished, the pathways, sculpture and planting beds will provide a visual context for comprehending the earth's evolution. Fifteen percent of the garden beds have been planted and the "glaciers" of white Shawangunk rock are partially installed.
Our monthly ecology meeting, Original Instructions, includes Native American concerns for each other and the land, as the work on the labyrinth continues. The potluck dinners and meetings have gathered Native Americans, who still live in the Hudson Valley, with others who want to understand their own responsibility to the earth. Attendance averages 10-20 people for each event, with a mailing list of 400 names. Clare may be reached at clare@boughtonplace.org. Their web site is www.boughtonplace.org. Boughton Place is located at 150 Kisor Road, Highland New York. Their phone number is 845-692-2888.
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