Oasis of Green in the Big Apple

The main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God—the Sovereign-Strong—and the Lamb are the Temple. The City doesn’t need sun or moon for light. God’s Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp!

Then the Angel showed me Water-of-Life River, crystal bright. It flowed from the Throne of God and the Lamb, right down the middle of the street. The Tree of Life was planted on each side of the River, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a ripe fruit each month. The leaves of the Tree are for healing the nations. Revelation chapters 21 &22

The busyness of recent weeks has meant that eking out the time for one blog entry per day -- Lion Lamb -- has been all I can handle. Sadly, I have neglected my Groundling blog because the issues of faith and the environment are so dear to my heart: You always hurt the one you love / The one you shouldn't hurt at all..."

 I do want to comment on my reaction to spending time in Central Park while in New York City recently. The guest house we stayed in was adjacent to the park so we walked through it several times. It is remarkable to see how many people use this sprawling green space designed by Frederick Law Olmstead in the 19th century. He also designed Mount Royal in Montreal, and the Emerald Necklace in Boston, amongst many other public spaces.

While in New York we went to the top of the Rockefeller Center --"30 Rock"- during the day, and the Empire State Building at night. The view toward the park is a wonderful reminder of the ongoing commitment to providing green space in a city of such intensification of real estate. During the day Central Park is spectacularly green and at night it is notable by its darkness in the city that never sleeps.

No one has a lawn in New York and a three-bedroom apartment in The Dakota, adjacent to Central Park goes for 10 million dollars. Actually, where we stayed was a block from The Dakota, the home of John Lennon and Yoko Ono at the time he was murdered. The Imagine memorial to Lennon is just inside the park entrance near that building in Strawberry Fields.





But I digress. For nearly a century and a half the commitment has remained to protecting and sustaining this ecological jewel in a city founded and perpetuated on commerce. There are even spaces dedicated to quiet in the park http://www.centralpark.com/guide/general-info/quiet-zones-in-central-park.html

The value of the park to the city is measured by a different standard and the people of New York are the better for it. I have discovered that the Conservancy group for Central Park is a public/private partnership which has raised 690 million dollars for maintenance over the past 25 years.

Conservancy crews care for 250 acres of lawns, 24,000 trees, 150 acres of lakes and streams and 80 acres of woodlands; install hundreds of thousands of plantings annually, including bulbs, shrubs, flowers and trees; maintain 9,000 benches, 26 ballfields and 21 playgrounds; preserve 55 sculptures and monuments, as well as 36 bridges; remove graffiti within 24 hours; collect over 5 million pounds of trash a year; and provide horticultural support to City parks.

We should pay attention to this is our urban areas. We can choose to create areas which literally breathe on our behalf, and provide places for recreation and the enjoyment of the natural world.  I love the Belleville Waterfront Trail and have taken the longer bike ride to work many times so I can enjoy this green space adjacent to the Bay of Quinte.

The book of Revelation speaks of a new heaven and a new earth in which the Holy City is a place of trees and clean rivers. Whatever our eternal promise, we have the opportunity to make the right choices now, for ourselves and future generations.