Letters to the editor for May 3

Mercy, not misery

“To err is human, to forgive, divine.” Alexander Pope’s words ring true now more than ever. We are so quick to condemn others’ actions without reflection that we are all sinners.

I was reminded of this recently while watching Tiger Woods rise through the ashes of his past mistakes and physical challenges to reclaim his status as a champion. We are all work in progress! His journey reminded me of the Bible passage where Jesus is preaching in the temple and the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman caught committing adultery to Jesus. The punishment back then was to be stoned, yet Jesus’ response was “let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Saint Augustine speaks of the moment when Jesus is left alone with the woman, as the accusers had walked away. He says – “there are left the two – Misery and Mercy.”

In March, St. Michael Parish hosted Audrey Assad, a Christian singer/songwriter. This concert was open to all in our community, regardless of spiritual beliefs. Her story and music were raw, real, and inspirational. Through all the baggage we carry around, forgiveness from God and each other is always available. Above all, Ms. Assad encouraged us to forgive ourselves.

As our community continues to find humane solutions to our complex homeless crisis, my prayer is that we approach this work from a place of mercy, not misery. May we be quick to love, and slow to blame.

Control the spread of English Ivy

I wish to address an impending environmental scourge descending upon our Western Washington landscapes: English ivy. This invasive, exotic plant species has the potential to eventually smother all of our lowland forested areas with a solid, dense mass of growth. The only factor currently affecting this outcome is time.

Unlike Himalayan Blackberry, which requires full sunlight to thrive, English Ivy can thrive in the shadows of forests. This gives it the potential to encroach upon a vastly greater portion of the landscape in Western Washington because forest is the dominate habitat. And this will indeed happen through the march of time if something is not done to stop it.

Now, addressing this problem should be a multi-faceted endeavor. First would be making it illegal to buy, sell or plant English Ivy. Second, there should be requirements for property owners to eliminate it from landscapes where it already occurs. Finally, there should be governmental assistance to help achieve this end.

Currently, WSDOT actually plants English Ivy along its urban freeway corridors. This is not only insane, but should clearly be illegal. What WSDOT should really be doing is hiring crews that make sure English Ivy DOES NOT colonize their rights-of-way.

Focusing eradication on easily identified infestations of English Ivy should be the beginning of control efforts, but then scaling down to eliminating even single rooted plants should be the end-game sought. If efforts are not initiated to control the spread of English Ivy soon, the environmental damage will become exponentially worse.