An Activist Walk

Shodo Spring 

SHODO SPRING is a grandmother, practitioner of Buddhism, and an environmental activist. She says, "While in a winter-long monastic retreat, I received a vision of walking along the [Keystone XL] pipeline with a group of people. The vision persisted and I accepted it as my major assignment for this lifetime."

Then the plan developed. Shodo got together a group of walkers with the idea of making a three-month walk along the planned route of the Keystone XL pipeline in the summer of 2013. The Harvest Collective provided assistance by renting a bus to get walkers to the starting point in Hardesty, Alberta, Canada, where they joined the 4th Annual Tar Sands Healing Walk. THE HARVEST COLLECTIVE also helped with organizing and managing accounts.



Then the COMPASSIONATE EARTH WALK began on July 8. Walking was done in shifts, 10 miles in length, sometimes in sweltering heat, then in the cold, they continued their trek. Some thirty-six people participate, some walking just one leg, others the entire three months. There were also various supporters along the way, including those who offered their homes for a night. On the walk went - through the Great Plains and finally ending up in Steele City, Nebraska on October 8.

The spiritual aspect of the trip put people in touch with the natural earth, seen in its glory without the greed of exploitation. Of course, when a person walks such a distance, it can also be framed in the pain, muscle aches, blisters, and other aspects of being human. But there were also the beautiful vistas, the fields, the flowers, the sounds of insects at work, the croak of frogs, that you can only experience when you slow down for a walk, instead of rushing through it in a car with the music turned up, the air conditioning blasting, and the windows rolled up.

But did this walk have any effect on plans to build the pipeline? I suppose no one really knows. So far, there is no pipeline running down into the US. The piece that is built is only Canada's. The future of the pipeline here in the US is still in limbo, with a slant towards "no" every day that it isn't built. Given the political climate, though, it's still a possibility, especially with the turn Congress will take after the inauguration of new members.

Shodo Spring leading Compassionate Earth Walk hikers.

Thanks to this article on The Harvest Collective by Shodo Spring: http://theharvestcollective.org/compassionate-earth-walk/, and this article from the Pollination Project: http://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/shodo-spring-compassionate-earth-walk/.

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