Think before you act.

It sounds easy, but naturalist Terry Tempest Williams says we aren't thinking nearly enough.
If we think about the world around us and our impact on it, we may end up making different and better decisions about how we live our lives, said Williams, who is coming to La Crosse to speak at the Franciscan Spirituality Center on March 31 and Viterbo University on April 1.

Both talks will deal with stewardship of the land, Williams said, and both talks are about ecological and spiritual relationships to the land. But the talk at the Spirituality Center will focus more on the spiritual relationship with the land and how we choose to define community.

To live well in the world, Williams said, there must a spiritual component and an integration of the whole self. "Our body knows it; our soul knows it."

The world is fragmented, she said, and we suffer because of it. "We forget that we are not supposed to be sent in so many directions."

Her talks will not be full of answers, she said.

"I certainly don't have any answers. I know what works for me."

And what works for her, she said, is reflection. "Take the kind of time to reflect and ponder and consider who we are and what we are." If we have an internal sense of peace, she said, it will drive the decisions we make about how to live our lives.

"For me, that's always about spending time with people you love or spending time with the landscape at hand, feeling the presence of creation."

When we neglect that, then we miss what's happening in the world around us, she said.

"In southern Utah, the wildlands are really under siege by oil and gas exploration. As long as we view our wildlands in monetary terms, not spiritual ones, the open space around us will always be assailable."

Americans need to become engaged in conversations about land use, and they need to use their power by voting for politicians who hold their views on land use, she said.

"People are awakening to the fact of what is happening," she said. "Wild beauty is a deeply held American value."

If you decide that's one of your deeply held values, then you need to take action, she said.

"Each person engages in democracy in their own way. Only 50 percent of Americans vote in this country," she said.

Americans need to realize that voting is a privilege.

"We take so much for granted. We take the landscape around us for granted, we take democracy for granted. We're so comfortable in this country that we forget the liberties we have. I feel like this is a crucial election, and these are crucial times. Our last remaining wildernesses are disappearing," she said, and it is up to the people of America to save them.

"I feel there's a tremendous support in this country for conservation and I think it's bipartisan. We've never had so many people. We've never had so many needs," she said, so this is a discussion that needs to happen across the country.

"Oil and gas — at what point do we say this is an antiquated form of technology and move forward with wind and solar."

IF YOU GO

WHO:

Naturalist Terry Tempest Williams, author of "Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place," "Red: Patience and Passion in the Desert," "The Garden of Delights," and the children's books "The Secret Language of Snow" and "Between Cattails."

WHEN:

Will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 31, at the Franciscan Spirituality Center, with a focus on spiritual relationship to the land; and at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 1, at the Viterbo University Fine Arts Center Main Theatre, focusing on stewardship of the land.

ADMISSION:

Both events are free and open to the public, but those who attend are encouraged to bring a nonperishable food item for Place of Grace, a Catholic worker house in La Crosse.

SPONSORS:

The Paul E. Stry Foundation, the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics and Leadership, Viterbo University and the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.

Geri Parlin can be reached at gparlin@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8225.

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