Earlier this month, Dr. Jane Goodall celebrated her 87th birthday. Born in London in 1934, the famous anthropologist spent much of her life in Tanzania studying chimpanzees. She has also become one of the leading spokespersons advocating care for all the earth.
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| Photo from The Jane Goodall Institute |
Jane Goodall and the Media
Like most of
you, I have heard of Jane Goodall for decades. But maybe unlike many of you, I
was never particularly interested in her or in her work. I guess I thought
there are more important things to do than to spend years and years studying
chimpanzees.
My recent
interest in Goodall, though, was spurred by a perceptive article about her in
the December 30 issue of The Christian Century. After reading that
article, “Why Jane Goodall reminds me of Dorothy Day,” I wanted to learn more about her
and her work.
So, about
six weeks ago June and I watched Jane, the 2017 documentary, which
followed her life and career from 1960 when she left her home country of
England to live for decades in the Gombe forest of Tanzania.
Jane Goodall: The Hope is the new 2020 National Geographic film about Goodall. We just
subscribed to Disney+, the only place where it seems to be available, in order
to watch it last week at our usual “Friday night at the movies.” It is mostly
about Jane’s work from 1986 to 2019.
Both of
these documentaries helped us understand how Jane Goodall and her work studying
and advocating for chimpanzees is, truly, good for all the earth.
Jane Goodall and Earth Day
As you probably know, April 22 is Earth Day; this
year’s theme is Restore Our Earth. EarthDay.org has helpful
information about various activities, which begin today.
National Geographic is kicking off Earth Day with a free virtual concert special on April 21. (Read more about that here.) Jane Goodall is scheduled to make an appearance at that concert.
Goodall is certainly a worthy spokesperson for
Earth Day. In April 2002, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed her a
United Nations Messenger of Peace, honoring her for a remarkable career as an
environmentalist and her “dedication to what is best in mankind.”
She has done so much for the earth over the
last 30 years that a National Geographic photographer who has traveled
extensively with her calls Goodall the “Mother Teresa of the environment.”
And the subtitle of the Christian Century
article about Goodall refers to her as “a secular saint.”
Jane Goodall and Chimpanzees
Eight years ago today (on 4/20/13) I began my
first blog post about Earth Day by citing Psalm 24:1. In the NIV
translation, that familiar verse says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything
in it, the world, and all who live in it.”
We usually think of “all” in this verse as referring
to human beings, but perhaps we should think of all as also including
chimpanzees and other living beings. Jane Goodall certainly did, and does.
And maybe Jane Goodall’s meritorious lifework
is an example of how “Understanding
One Thing is to Understand Everything,” as I wrote about in my February 27 blog
post.
As shown in the 2020 documentary, since 1986
Jane has been working tirelessly to save the environment for her beloved
chimpanzees—and for the people in their shared environment—and, then, to save the
whole earth from environmental destruction.
Indeed, Dr. Jane’s work over the past 60 years
has been good for all the earth. May God help each of us
to follow her example in our own small ways.
_____
** Here is the link to The Jane Goodall Institute's website, with links to her impressive “Roots and Shoots” organization as well as to her “Good for All News” website.
Local Thinking Friend David Nelson sent the first comments this morning:
ReplyDelete"Thanks for celebrating this amazing sister with us. She reminds us that we share the earth with all our relatives, including those who are not of the human species. Have a great EARTH DAY!"
Thanks, David, for your brief, pertinent comments early this morning.
DeleteThanks, Leroy. Since I taught anthropology for three years in Iowa, this took me to a place I haven't been for a while. However, your blog today reminds me of what I'm teaching right now--namely, Neo-Confucianism and this quote in my lecture from the early Neo-Confucianist Zhang Zai (1020-1077 CE): "Heaven is the father; Earth is the mother. And I, this tiny thing, dwell enfolded in Them. Hence, what fills Heaven and Earth is my body, and what rules Heaven and Earth is my nature. The people are my siblings, and all living things are my companions."
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anton, for your comments and sharing the words of Zhang Zai, whom I don't remember hearing about before. What he said long ago is similar to what Fr. Richard Rohr wrote in the first chapter of his book "The Universal Christ" (2019):
Delete"Without a sense of the inherent sacredness of the world--of every tiny bit of life and death--we struggle to see God in our own reality, let alone to respect reality, protect it, or love it. The consequences of this ignorance are all around us, seen in the way we have exploited and damaged our fellow human beings, the dear animals, the web of growing things, the land, the waters, and the very air"(p. 18).
A few minutes ago the following comments from Thinking Friend Eric Dollard in Chicago came to my inbox:
ReplyDelete"Thanks, Leroy, for your comments about the work of Jane Goodall and about Earth Day. I agree that the verse at Psalm 24:1 should be understood to include all living creatures.
"Judy and I were fortunate enough to hear Dr. Goodall speak at a conference in 1994 in Lexington KY, and Judy was able to talk with her briefly. She is a giant among those working to preserve our planet in all of its natural beauty and she challenges the rest of us to work to do likewise."
Thanks for your comments, Eric. I was impressed that you and your wife were able to hear Dr. Jane speak back when she was still a "young" woman of 60.
DeleteGreat Servant for us and All living things on this earth, including the earth.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you would include the Scripture verse: Psalm 24:1.in your Blog.
That's one of the Scripture verses that our Ministry is based on-we try to return as much as we can to GOD's work as we can, since ho owns it All Anyway.
Blessings,
John Carr
Here are substantial comments from local Thinking Friend Vern Barnet:
ReplyDelete"I wonder if it is fair to note that Goodall's interference with natural chimp behavior probably increased their aggressive behavior (thus casting doubt on the accuracy of her reports), and for that and other problems, I'm not quite ready to accord her the status of saint she is often portrayed to be (I met her some years ago), though I believe her intentions were good.
"I vividly remember the first Earth Day and was glad to help plant a tree in Chicago then. So thanks for the underlying message of your post. I could not but also think of this passage of Christian scripture selected by the late Prince Philip and so beautifully read at his funeral:
"THE FIRST LESSON Ecclesiasticus 43. 11–26 read by the Dean of Windsor
"LOOK at the rainbow and praise its Maker; it shines with a supreme beauty, rounding the sky with its gleaming arc, a bow bent by the hands of the Most High. His command speeds the snow storm and sends the swift lightning to execute his sentence. To that end the storehouses are opened, and the clouds fly out like birds. By his mighty power the clouds are piled up and the hailstones broken small. The crash of his thunder makes the earth writhe, and, when he appears, an earthquake shakes the hills. At his will the south wind blows, the squall from the north and the hurricane. He scatters the snow-flakes like birds alighting; they settle like a swarm of locusts. The eye is dazzled by their beautiful whiteness, and as they fall the mind is entranced. He spreads frost on the earth like salt, and icicles form like pointed stakes. A cold blast from the north, and ice grows hard on the water, settling on every pool, as though the water were putting on a breastplate. He consumes the hills, scorches the wilderness, and withers the grass like fire. Cloudy weather quickly puts all to rights, and dew brings welcome relief after heat. By the power of his thought he tamed the deep and planted it with islands. Those who sail the sea tell stories of its dangers, which astonish all who hear them; in it are strange and wonderful creatures, all kinds of living things and huge sea-monsters. By his own action he achieves his end, and by his word all things are held together.
"Thanks for highlighting Earth Day and its importance and its meaning for the survival of what we hold dear."
Vern, thanks for your comments, which I called substantial for good reason.
DeleteI'll make a brief response only to your first paragraph.
I don't know enough to be able to say whether it is likely that "Goodall's interference with natural chimp behavior probably increased their aggressive behavior." I think it is true, though, that no one in the world has spent as much time with chimpanzees and has loved them any more than Dr. Goodall. Of course, it is possible that she has been unable to see her own mistakes.
Secondly, I have considerable trust in the validity of what National Geographic says. They produced two documentaries (in 2017 and in 2020) to educate the public about Dr. Goodall and her work--with the chimpanzees in the former and for the chimpanzees in the latter. Of course, there could well be economic reasons for producing those films, but I am willing to trust their judgment on the accuracy of her reports. But, again, I don't know enough about the situation to make any definitive statement.
Humans have about 99% the same DNA as chimpanzees and bonobos, and about 99.9% the same as each other. All three have about 97% DNA in common with gorillas. So what Jane Goodall was doing was not just studying chimps, she was also studying us. Interestingly, some of the DNA we have in common with chimps is different than the DNA we have in common with bonobos, despite the fact that they are more closely related to each other than to humans. Perhaps that explains why sometimes humans fight like chimps, and other times party like bonobos. You can read more here: https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/genetics
ReplyDeleteWith Earth Day approaching, I think this review of Goodall's work is a good time to reframe our understanding of the Garden of Eden story in Genesis. Our exegesis tends to think of that garden as an abstract place our ancestors left that no longer has direct meaning for us today. Earth Day says otherwise. Adam and Eve were put in the garden to tend it. The garden was a place of ample food, water, and resources. It was a great place to live. While we cannot "go back" to Eden, we can go forward to a new Eden, restoring our Earth to something resembling the rich environment which once nurtured us. We can tend our new Eden with the diligence and understanding that this is not just a choice, but a mandate. We have learned enough about the agricultural and industrial revolutions that have formed our modern world to realize we desperately need the lessons of Eden if we are to survive the ever more stressful world we have created. We cannot afford to sleep through the lesson of Eden the way the disciples slept through Jesus' prayer in that other garden, Gethsemane. Otherwise we may find ourselves picking up crosses we really would rather not carry, and following Jesus to a place where we really would rather not go. For Golgotha is about as far from Eden as you can get, and our world is heading for one of those places. If we fail, we cannot blame the gorillas, the bonobos, or even the chimpanzees. This one is on us. We know we cannot have infinite growth on a finite planet. We know we cannot trash our environment without consequences. We cannot hide in a silo on New Zealand, or fly off to Mars. People who think that need to watch a few disaster movies. This is it. There is no "Planet B."
Thanks for these splendid comments, Craig. When I linked to this blog post on Facebook, I encouraged people to read your comments here.
DeleteThank you Leroy, for this timely blog post. It was about 10 or 12 years ago, when our daughter was still in university, she invited me to come with her to a Dr. Goodall lecture. I did, and was very impressed with her message. She cited, as I recall, in great detail, the amount of money spent by nations on nuclear weapons and the military, and how many times the world could be blown up by them. She compared that with what could be done in the world with the same amount of money for justice and peace and the environment. She certainly was/is a person who has lived in hope for a better world.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this, Garth. I am impressed that you and your daughter were able to hear Dr. Goodall lecture in person.
DeleteThe 2020 documentary on Dr. Jane's work in the past 30+ years emphasizes hope--and I found it meaningful that instead of "podcasts" she produces "hopecasts."
Dr. Goodall is to be admired in spite of possible errors in her judgments. Every environmentalist can probably say they made mistakes with the best of intentions. There is always risk in such hands-on involvement. That should never keep us from trying. Just like the warming climate, man may not be responsible for all of it. At any time, however, a species is threatened with extinction or there is a degradation of environment, man has to evaluate how much he contributed to it and limit that loss as much as possible. Dr. Goodall is a voice constantly reminding us to look in the mirror.
ReplyDeleteTom, I am very late in responding, but I appreciate the thoughtful comments you posted here.
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