“Earth in the Elephant’s Footstep: Christianity, Buddhism and the Environment.”

From the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin –

The Buddha identified appamada, typically translated as “diligent care,” as the chief good or highest virtue in his teaching and practice. He likened appamada to the elephant’s footprint—just as the feet of all creatures fit into the elephant’s footprint, so do all virtues fit into the most comprehensive good of all, diligent care. This is also a virtue that Jesus of Nazareth embodied and taught—an active and diligent love and care for others, especially the excluded and most vulnerable. It is a virtue that many people are articulating today—an active and diligent care for the earth. Tom VandeStadt will share how we can draw from both the Buddhist and Judeo-Christian traditions in our own care for the earth.

Tom VandeStadt is the pastor of the Congregational Church of Austin, United Church of Christ, and a student at Appamada Zen Center in Austin Texas. He has served on the Board of the Interfaith Environmental Network of Austin, and is currently a member of Austin Interfaith.